Eastern Michigan Asylum Historic District | |
Location | 140 Elizabeth Lake Rd., Pontiac, Michigan |
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Coordinates | 42°38′43.7″N83°19′20.6″W / 42.645472°N 83.322389°W |
Area | 412 acres (167 ha) |
Built | 1878 |
Architect | Elijah E. Myers (main building) Smith, Hinchman & Grylls (chapel) |
Architectural style | Late Victorian, Italianate, Italian Renaissance |
NRHP reference No. | 81000315 [1] 86001367 (decrease) |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | March 20, 1981 |
Boundary decrease | 1986 |
Designated MSHS | September 17, 1974 [2] |
The Clinton Valley Center (CVC), originally called the Eastern Michigan Asylum for the Insane, was a psychiatric hospital located at 140 Elizabeth Lake Road in Pontiac, Michigan. The facility was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974 [2] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, with a decrease in its boundaries in 1986. [1] The facility was closed in 1997 and demolished in 2000. [3]
In 1873, to alleviate the overcrowding at the Kalamazoo psychiatric hospital, the Michigan state legislature appropriated $400,000 for the construction of a second hospital in eastern Michigan. [4] Cities in the area were requested to bid for the project, and Pontiac won out over Detroit and other cities. The architect for the original main hospital was Elijah E. Myers, who also served as the architect for the current Michigan State Capitol in Lansing. [3] The asylum opened its doors five years later, on August 1, 1878, [3] and began treating 222 patients. [3] The original superintendent, Henry Mills Hurd, introduced multiple innovations in psychiatric care, including discouraging restraints, occupational therapy, and recreational activities. [4]
Both the campus size and number of patients slowly grew, as the hospital was repeatedly enlarged between 1882 and 1895 (also designed by Myers), with more additions in 1906, 1914, and 1938. [2] In 1911, the hospital changed its name to Pontiac State Hospital. During the 1950s, the hospital experienced its peak of approximately 3,100 residing patients. [3] The facility was renamed the Clinton Valley Center in 1973, [3] and by the later 1970s the number of patients had declined to around 800. [2]
Due to a decreasing number of patients, the facility was closed in 1997 by the State of Michigan with only 200 patients. [4] The facility was demolished in 2000. A subdivision now occupies the site.
The campus of the Clinton Valley Center contained 44 structures, many of which were extensions of the original 1878 hospital. [2]
The 1878 structure was a 3+1⁄2-story red-brick structure with a center building for offices and staff, and two wings for male and female patients. [2] The building had a steeply pitched slate roof with multiple towers, and wood and metal cornices. The building resembled a typical Kirkbride model. [3] The 1882 additions were designed by Charles Anderson to match the original construction. [2] The 1906 and 1914 additions were brick hipped-roof structures, and the 1938 construction added a Tudor designed building onto the front of the structure. [2]
Apart from the main hospital, other structures on the campus included the Vinton Building (1893), the Sawyer Building (1917), the Italian Renaissance chapel (1907) designed by the Detroit firm of Smith, Hinchman and Grylls. [2]
The Kings Park Psychiatric Center, known by Kings Park locals as "The Psych Center", is a former state-run psychiatric hospital located in Kings Park, New York. It operated from 1885 until 1996, when the State of New York closed the facility, releasing its few remaining patients or transferring them to the still-operational Pilgrim Psychiatric Center.
The Kirkbride Plan was a system of mental asylum design advocated by American psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809–1883) in the mid-19th century. The asylums built in the Kirkbride design, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings, were constructed during the mid-to-late-19th century in the United States.
The Danvers State Hospital, also known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers, The Danvers Lunatic Asylum, and The Danvers State Insane Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital located in Danvers, Massachusetts. It was built in 1874, and opened in 1878, under the supervision of prominent Boston architect Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee, on an isolated site in rural Massachusetts. It was a multi-acre, self-contained psychiatric hospital designed and built according to the Kirkbride Plan.
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Agnews Developmental Center were two psychiatric and medical care facilities, located in Santa Clara, California and San Jose, California respectively.
Elijah E. Myers was a leading architect of government buildings in the latter half of the 19th century, and the only architect to design the capitol buildings of three U.S. states, the Michigan State Capitol, the Texas State Capitol, and the Colorado State Capitol. He also designed buildings in Mexico and Brazil. Myers favored Victorian Gothic and Neo-Classical styles, but he worked in other styles as well.
The Traverse City State Hospital, also known at various points as the Northern Michigan Asylum and the Traverse City Regional Psychiatric Hospital, is a decommissioned psychiatric hospital in Traverse City, Michigan. Established in 1881 by James Decker Munson and Perry Hannah, the hospital was in operation from 1885 to 1989. The site has since been redeveloped, reopening in 2002 as The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a social center including shops, restaurants, office space, and residences.
The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, also known as Kirkbride's Hospital or the Pennsylvania Hospital for Mental and Nervous Diseases, was a psychiatric hospital located at 48th and Haverford Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It operated from its founding in 1841 until 1997. The remaining building, now called the Kirkbride Center is now part of the Blackwell Human Services Campus.
Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut, is a public hospital operated by the state of Connecticut to treat people with mental illness. It was historically known as Connecticut General Hospital for the Insane. It is a 100-acre (40 ha) historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Michigan State Asylum may refer to any number of early mental institutions in the state. Michigan became a state in 1837 and five years later it was accepted that caring for the mentally afflicted was a state problem. In 1848 a joint resolution required an annual return from the adviser of the number of insane, deaf, dumb, and blind people in the state. In that same year the legislature set aside 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of land for buildings, next year nearly double that amount, and in 1850, 16,000 acres (6,500 ha). Not until 1853 was money, $20,000, appropriated out of the general fund of the state treasury. Many hospitals/prisons have been referred to as "Michigan State Asylum". There were once 16 State-operated psychiatric facilities in Michigan. Between 1987 and 2003 Michigan closed three quarters of its 16 state psychiatric facilities. Here is a partial list.
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The Kalamazoo Psychiatric Hospital (KRPH) is the largest mental health institution in Michigan. It was built under the Kirkbride Plan.
The Hudson River State Hospital is a former New York state psychiatric hospital which operated from 1873 until its closure in the early 2000s. The campus is notable for its main building, known as a "Kirkbride," which has been designated a National Historic Landmark due to its exemplary High Victorian Gothic architecture, the first use of that style for an American institutional building. It is located on US 9 on the Poughkeepsie-Hyde Park town line.
Worcester State Hospital was a Massachusetts state mental hospital located in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is credited to the architectural firm of Weston & Rand. The hospital and surrounding associated historic structures are listed as Worcester Asylum and related buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
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