Spring Grove Hospital Center was founded in 1797 and is the second oldest psychiatric hospital in the United States. However, these accounts seem to be specious. While the problems cited in the 'Maryland's Shame' articles existed in all of the state hospitals and custodial institutions (such as facilities for the mentally retarded) the problems seems to be particularly severe at Spring Grove -- in part because approximately a third of its patient population was being cared for and treated in the aging Main Building, a structure that in 1949 was nearly 100 years old and considered by all to be a firetrap. extensive 'bad press' in the local media, the legislature revamped the state mental hospital system (Acts of 1949). Abuse Administration, and other State agencies) was built in 1960 and was doubled in size through an expansion several years later. Mackenzie and Smythe, the hospital was usually able to accommodate 'about 40 lunatics [i.e., patients with mental illnesses] and 150 [other] patients, with general diseases.'. The balance of the west wing, as well as the 'Center Building,' and the east wing were repaired, remodeled and improved in later years -- but these remaining portions of the building survived until they were demolished, along with the rest of the structure in the 1870s (see below). Timothy Learys got nothing on Baltimore! However, the somewhat improbable volume of hysterectomies performed at Spring Grove over a relatively short period during the tenure of Dr. Roh would suggest otherwise. So called 'General Patients' were housed in the next echelon back, and more disturbed or 'violent' patients tended were placed on the units that were the farthest back from the center section. The purchase price for the original 136 acres was $14,000; of this sum, $12,340 came from contributions by private citizens. It is perhaps interesting to note that Captain Yellott was, himself, a member of the committee, appointed by the City Council, under the authority of the State, that selected the property that he personally owned. We are located in Catonsville, previously named by Money Magazine as one the best places to live! david.helsel@maryland.gov. The reader will agree that the formula, which follows, reads more like the directions for an exotic cocktail than it does an oral hygiene product: Another medicine listed in the 1899 formulary was referred to as a 'Gastro Intestinal Tonic.' A second physician was hired shortly thereafter. This same act required that 'one-half of [the Maryland Hospital]be appropriated to the accommodation of pauper lunatics of [the State of Maryland], who shall there be accommodated and treated at the expense of the county so sending such lunatic paupers; provided, the same shall not exceed one hundred dollars for each pauper lunatic so sent.' 1) Hager House, Hagerstown. (This represented more than a four-fold increase in the size of its acreage when compared to its original size of 136 acres. Vision Spring Grove Hospital will be recognized as a national leader for excellence in psychiatric care, research and education. According to a number of sources, the disagreement was over the fact that the Sisters refused to recognize that the decisions of the hospital's physicians were 'supreme' in all clinical and administrative matters. Accordingly, $2,000 was deducted from the purchase price.) Accordingly, there was an increasing demand for respite care for infirm seafarers that were regularly arriving at the harbor. The Main Building's design was based upon the work of Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride, who served the Pennsylvania Hospital as superintendent from 1841-1883. Once a valiant hospital of its time,. Some sources indicate that a dedicated building was erected specifically for the purpose by Captain Yellott in 1794. However, presumably the Maryland Hospital had no official connection with the Confederacy during the war. A kitchen pantry, and eventually dining refectories and an amusement hall and chapel were located in at the rear of the center section. In 1794 Baltimore, which would not be incorporated as a city for another three years, was growing rapidly and had a bustling seaport. The Hospital's annual report of 1861 notes that running water in the bathrooms and water closets (flush toilets) were added to the West Wing of the building, and the hospital was connected to the Baltimore City public water system. The Spring Grove farm continued to operated, albeit on a reduced scale, into the early 1960's. The hospital's orchards yielded more than 100 bushels of apples, cherries, pears and peaches every year. This accusation was made in the literary work,
This volume will reveal through a broad array of poignant historic images the extensive, complex, and fascinating history of Maryland's oldest hospital. Some early records indicate that certain patients were permitted 'to go partially at large.' Additional promenades and landscaping features were added. Guests say she opens their drawers and removes the clothing from them. [3], The present site was purchased in 1852 by which time the original buildings had become inadequate. There is also an implication that the original, i.e.1794, structure may have been incorporated into a larger hospital building later on (see below). Originally known as 'The Hospital for the Negro Insane of Maryland,' the facility was renamed 'Crownsville State Hospital' in 1912. The
The Rectory was the home of a priest accused of. Although the funds were appropriated by the State, and although ownership of the property rested with the State, the funds were placed in the hands of the Mayor of Baltimore, who, along with Captain Yellott and his associates, had served as member of the committee that selected the site. The Sisters of Charity went on to establish another psychiatric facility, known as the 'Mount Hope Retreat,' which later became the Seton Institute. The hospital is now officially known as Spring Grove Hospital Center (renamed in 1973) and under the governance of the Mental Hygiene Administration, the facility operates 330 beds and provides advanced inpatient psychiatric services to approximately 1000 patients every year. Furthermore, any renewal of the lease was subject to the execution of a commitment by Drs. At the time, patients who were moved from the Main Building to the Preston Complex sometimes referred to the Preston Complex as 'Disneyland,' apparently because of the fact that its modern, somewhat freeform appearance stood in such sharp contrast to the aged, monolithic Main Building. And there is again a psychiatric illness research facility in the same building where the LSD experiments once occurred. Under the agreement, the two men took over the daily operation of the facility and continued to provide hospital services to indigent ('pauper') mentally and physically individuals, as well as to mariners and private (paying) patients, 1817 equivalent of a modern patient discharge s, ummary (signed by Drs. It should be noted that this assertion has not been confirmed through primary sources. The rate at which the patients were transferred from the old site to the new one is not know for certain. ), It is perhaps interesting to note that the current 'Spring Grove Hospital' may technically be the third hospital located at the Catonsville site. Roughly synonymous with what today might be a diagnosis of Schizophrenia or Manic Episode. Furthermore, as noted above, its buildings seem to have been in such poor condition that the hospital was probably unable to attract many private, paying, patients. An early history of the hospital notes that the property occupied by the Retreat was purchased from Captain Yellott on May 18, 1798 for $800. 55 Wade Avenue, Catonsville, Maryland 21228 USA 410.402.6000 According to an 1870 report entitled, 'The Inebriate Asylum: Report of the Committee on the Temporary Organization of the Asylum,' permission had been granted in the previous year to allow an institution known as 'The Inebriate Asylum at Spring Grove,' a facility for the care and treatment of alcoholics, to temporarily occupy the completed north wing of the new hospital at Spring Grove (Main Building) for a period of two years.
Room produced thousands of items such as dresses, petticoats, night gowns, socks and stockings, aprons, chemises and other undergarments, sheets, napkins, table cloths, blankets, shirts, curtains and even shrouds. Plays on the grounds of Spring Grove Hospital Center at the, This page was last edited on 5 April 2023, at 20:16. Spring Grove Hospital Center is a 397 -bed complex that provides a broad spectrum of inpatient psychiatric services to adults and adolescents, as well as comprehensive psychiatric services to adults. Founded in 1797, Spring Grove State Hospital, now known as Spring Grove Hospital Center, is the second oldest continuously operating state psychiatric hospital in the country. https://health.maryland.gov/springgrove/Pages/home.aspx, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, "James E. Steuart Papers, 1785-1955, MS 758 - Maryland Historical Society", "Baltimore County takes next step to purchase Spring Grove land", "Baltimore County makes move to purchase Spring Grove land for regional park | Maryland News Feed", "Hogan administration proposes selling Spring Grove Hospital campus in Catonsville to UMBC for $1", "Hospital sale to UMBC for $1 is approved", "Bd. May 11, 2022 / 10:45 PM / CBS Baltimore BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- By a vote of 2-1, the Maryland Board of Public Works on Wednesday approved transferring the campus of Spring Grove Hospital Center,. Several documents from the period speak, predictably, to the then predominate belief that the races should be separated -- although there was also evidence that therapeutic activities, such as industrial therapy, were integrated. The north wing was called the "Male Department," and the south wing was called the "Female Department." Main Building (1853) had been built in accordance with the previous era's 'Kirkbride' plan of institutional design -- a plan that led to the construction of hospitals that consisted essentially of a single, imposing, often immense, even monolithic building. Dr. Richard Sprigg-Steuart, who had been President of the hospital's Board since 1828 was replaced as its President by C.W. Accordingly, despite oral history that supports its existence at Spring Grove, it is not clear if the 'Inebriate Asylum' ever actually operated at the site. Installation of the Hospital's 'Electric Light Plant' (a steam-powered electric generator) was begun in 1896 and was completed in the following year. A number of documents that date from the period between the end of the Civil War and 1872 refer to it simply as 'The Spring Grove Asylum.' Please enable JavaScript in your browser. The nature of the problem is described in the following passage from the 1877 report of the Hospital's Board of Managers: 'As originally constructed, each ward or hall in the hospital was supplied with water closets [flush toilets], the contents of which were conveyed, by underground pipes, into the stream which supplies the hospital with water.'
As with any setting that provides for the care of vulnerable individuals, the possibility of exploitation and abuse was always present at Spring Grove. They should not be considered safe or appropriate for modern consumption.
First, construction of a new major medical building that had been started in 1914 was delayed by the demands of the wartime economy. Hopkins.) New buildings provided stables and other farm buildings; a laundry; upholstery, shoe, tin, and metal shops; dormitories; and employee housing. With the approval of local trustees of the poor, county levy courts were authorized in 1817 to commit persons referred to as 'lunatic paupers' to the hospital, upon agreement by the county to provide an annual payment to the hospital (Acts of 1817).While no direct evidence exists today that slaves were ever used to staff the hospital, it should be noted that, during this period, similar institutions did use slave labor for certain tasks. Veterans Administration Hospital at Perry Point) at Perry Point, Maryland. However, problems with the plumbing became apparent almost immediately. The Athletic Field, formally known as the
As noted above, while the name, mission and ownership of the 'Retreat' changed in 1798, it would seem that the 'new' hospital continued to operate, without interruption, in the same building that it had occupied since its inception in 1794 -- at least until patients were able to occupy the new (c.1798) building. Furthermore, the report says that, because of the war, 'the South' owed the hospital a debt of 'over $2,000.' The commissioners acted quickly. Despite the new construction and other improvements, by 1839 the facility had become badly overcrowded. Other than Market St. (Broadway), none of these streets existed when the hospital was built. Fancy dress balls and 'cake walks' were organized, and records from the period speak of patients going out to shoot partridges for the Superintendent's dinner. According to a report published in 1836 by The Committee to Visit and Inspect the Maryland Hospital, Dr. Stokes' and his assistant each had annual salaries of $500. In 1901 there were 7,404 separate
Later it became a whites-only facility. On December 24, 1808 Maryland's legislative body, the General Assembly, passed an act which authorized a lottery to raise sums of up to $40,000 for improvement and expansion of the existing hospital building. Up until that time, Maryland had depended heavily upon a system known as 'County Care,' i.e., the basic care and shelter that was provided in 'County Homes' (alms houses) to indigent citizens (including indigent citizens with mental illnesses) by the various counties. The haunted floor "I worked in a pediatric hospital and had always heard that the fourth floor right outside our oncology unit was haunted. (The location ofthe quarry has not been determined by this writer, but some people believe that it was located at the site of today's Weltmer Bowl, Spring Grove's athletic field.) Today, the Dayhoff Building, the White Building, and portions of the Stone Cottages are located on land that was part of the 1909 'Sunnyside' farm acquisition and not, as might be imagined, part of the hospital's original parcel of land, acquired in 1853. The report goes on to mention that the hospital was deeply in debt -- primarily to local banks, such as the National Bank of Baltimore and the Eutaw Savings Bank --
The additions were probably completed in stages, but the order of completion is not known. Dr. James Smythe died in 1819, and Dr. Colin Mackenzie in 1827. There is photographic evidence that suggests that the entire site was completely razed before the construction of the buildings that would eventually house Johns Hopkins Hospital was begun. 'The American Journal of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children 26 (1892): 694-726.] In that year, the hospital installed a fairly sophisticated sewage filtration and purification system that was built largely with patient and hospital staff labor. For example, he served as one of a series of principal architects who were responsible for the design of the
Despite the less than ideal circumstances for African-American patients at Spring Grove in the 19th and early 20th Century, conditions were far worse in the almshouses and jails -- where many mentally ill African-American Maryland citizens were confined. As noted above, the release of the property to Mr. Hopkins was subject to the completion of the new facility at the Spring Grove site and the removal of the patients. On October 27, 1852 the commission purchased 136 acres of land, near the town of Catonsville, Maryland (five miles southwest of Baltimore City). Physostigmine are used today in medications to reduce intestinal spasm and give tone to relaxed muscular walls of the stomach and bowels. It's not clear if this obligation referred to a debt that had somehow been acquired by the Confederate States of America for services rendered by the Maryland Hospital during the war or if it referred to a demand, during Reconstruction, for war retributions from the southern states. Today, Spring Grove treats around 300 patients, a fraction of its 1960 population. However, the powers of the corporation were temporarily suspended under an agreement with Colin Mackenzie's son, Dr. John Mackenzie. Unfortunately, the fate of the building used by the Retreat between 1794 and 1798 is not known. It is too small, and too defective in its construction. A temporary solution that was employed at first involved the digging of large cesspools ('earth closets') near to the hospital building. Although the general location of the Retreat is known, the exact location of the structure that housed the facility has not been established. Furthermore, records from the period indicate that many, if not most, patients were routinely locked in their bedrooms at night while the nurses and everyone else, other than the men and women who served night as watchmen, slept.). In the following year, 1912, most of the remaining male patients of African descent were transferred from Spring Grove to Crownsville. Other sources suggest that the new building may not have been completed until two years later, in 1800. (See below. The research included investigations into the efficacy of shock therapy and pre-frontal lobotomy. Dr. Sprigg-Steuart, who at the time held the title of President and Medical Superintendent of the Maryland Hospital for the Insane , contributed $1000 of his private funds towards the purchase price. When our [alcoholic] patients go into it, they will be its first occupants. Male patients were primarily occupied with farm and workshop chores, while female patients were employed with housekeeping, laundry, sewing, and kitchen tasks such as vegetable preparation. PennHurst, the legendary haunted hospital complex has opened its doors after 25 years and is accepting new patients!
Crownsville's very first patients were 16 African-American men who were transferred from Spring Grove in 1911. Records indicate that the Catonsville facility was originally intended to house 200-250patients (Acts of 1852), but, by the time of its completion, it was said to have been able to comfortably accommodate a maximum of 325. Beginning in the late 1950s, and continuing in the decades that followed, significant reductions in the patient census became possible through advancements in psychiatric treatment and improved funding of
For more information about Springfield Hospital Center's History, see
In 1901 the women's Sewing Room made 60 Masquerade Suits for a fancy dress ball (Annual Report, 1901). It was located northeast of the White Building, near what is today a wooded area, The Nation's 2nd Oldest Psychiatric Hospital, Patient Care and Treatment in the Early Years, Dorothea Dix -- An Impassioned Plea (1852), Construction of the New Site At Spring Grove (1853), The Baltimore Hospital is Sold to Johns Hopkins (1871), Completion of the Catonsville Site (1872), The Maryland Hospital at Spring Grove -- The Early Days, Springfield State Hospital is Built (1896), African-American Patients at Spring Grove, World War I -- And Spring Grove in the Early 20th Century, Spring Grove Continues to Expand (1920s - 1950s), Maryland's Shame and a Period of Reconfiguration, Spring Grove is the Nation's Second Oldest Psychiatric Hospital, Privatization of the Hospital Management in the Early 1800s, The State of Maryland Assumes Full Governance, Patient Care and Treatment in the Early Days, The Cornets: or the Hypocrisy of the Sisters of Charity Unveiled, Construction of the New Site at Spring Grove Begins -- The Civil War, The Baltimore Property is Sold to Johns Hopkins, Completion of the Catonsville Site -- 1872, https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/about/history/index.html, The Maryland Hospital for the Insane at Spring Grove in Its First Years, Moral Management and Other Treatments in the Late 1800s, Click here to take a 'virtual' tour of the main building, A Second State Psychiatric Hospital is Built, Women's Convalescent Cottages ('Stone Cottage' Group), The Inebriate Asylum at Spring Grove (1870). The Hillcrest Building (1921), the
The doctor also gave the patient 35 grains of mercury and applied 12 ounces of mercurial ointment. However, while the Pennsylvania Hospital does provide psychiatric services, it was never a psychiatric hospital -- and for that reason is usually not included in lists of the oldest psychiatric institutions. However, there is clear evidence that African-American slaves were admitted as patients. It seems to have been funded entirely by Captain Yellott and his associates, and while at the time the term 'Retreat' often referred to a psychiatric facility, and while Captain Yellott's Retreat undoubtedly accepted mariners who were suffering from mental illnesses, available historic information suggests that it was primarily a facility intended for the treatment of general medical conditions -- such as infectious and nutritional diseases -- that occurred among seafarers. Founded in 1797, it is the second oldest continuously operating psychiatric hospital in the country. An advantage of the Maryland Hospital site in Baltimore was that it was located on high grounds (there had recently been a flood in Baltimore that had destroyed many of the lower-lying parts of the city that bordered the Jones Falls). The oldest psychiatric hospital in the country is the Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, Virginia, which was founded in 1773 and remains in operation today as a psychiatric hospital. Pennhurst haunted asylum is Pennsylvania's newest and best destination haunted house! One historic source suggests that that early references to the erection of the 'new hospital' in 1798 actually refer to the expansion of the original, circa 1794, building -- through the addition of an annex to, or other upgrade of, the original structure. As noted above, the north wing of the 'Old Main' building at Spring Grove may have first been used as an army hospital during the Civil War.In addition, a second hospital may have operated there for a brief period in the early 1870s, before the first psychiatric patients were transferred to the Catonsville site from Baltimore in 1872. If you would like to comment on Spring Grove's History, or if you would like to suggest additions or corrections, please contact us at
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