Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Harrisburg State Hospital
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, September 28, 2016
1. Harrisburg State Hospital Marker
Inscription.
Harrisburg State Hospital. . First known as the "City on the Hill,” the Harrisburg State Hospital was opened in 1851 as Pennsylvania's first institution built tor the care and treatment of the mentally ill, and one of the first such facilities in the United States. By the 1840's, it became clearer that the country's "poor houses” and jails were not conducive to giving proper attention to those with emotional and mental disturbances. After meeting with success in Massachusetts, mid-19th Century social reformer Dorothea Dix (1802-1887) brought her cause to Pennsylvania by convincing the state legislature to authorize the establishment of an institution just for the psychologically disabled. Consequently, the hospital, originally known as the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Asylum was founded by an Act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1845 and grew as a community onto itself with beautifully landscaped grounds and farmland for the self-sufficient production of food. It was the philosophy that such an idyllic setting would protect, rather than incarcerate the patients from the disruptive influences of the outside world. The hospital would grow from its original 130 acres to over 1000, and to include in excess of 70 buildings, the most significant of which were designed by noted Pennsylvania architects. The campus attained further significance as it represented an important transition in hospital design from the "Kirkbride" plan where patients were housed in one large building, to that of the "Cottage" plan where the smaller buildings served as patients' residences thus reinforcing the sense of home and open space. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Harrisburg State Hospital, which has been the site of at least one major film production, continues to well serve those in need.
First known as the "City on the Hill,” the Harrisburg State Hospital was opened in 1851 as Pennsylvania's first institution built tor the care and treatment of the mentally ill, and one of the first such facilities in the United States. By the 1840's, it became clearer that the country's "poor houses” and jails were not conducive to giving proper attention to those with emotional and mental disturbances. After meeting with success in Massachusetts, mid-19th Century social reformer Dorothea Dix (1802-1887) brought her cause to Pennsylvania by convincing the state legislature to authorize the establishment of an institution just for the psychologically disabled. Consequently, the hospital, originally known as the
Pennsylvania State Lunatic Asylum was founded by an Act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 1845 and grew as a community onto itself with beautifully landscaped grounds and farmland for the self-sufficient production of food. It was the philosophy that such an idyllic setting would protect, rather than incarcerate the patients from the disruptive influences of the outside world. The hospital would grow from its original 130 acres to over 1000, and to include in excess of 70 buildings, the most significant of which were designed by noted Pennsylvania architects. The campus attained further significance as it represented an
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important transition in hospital design from the "Kirkbride" plan where patients were housed in one large building, to that of the "Cottage" plan where the smaller buildings served as patients' residences thus reinforcing the sense of home and open space. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the Harrisburg State Hospital, which has been the site of at least one major film production, continues to well serve those in need.
Location. 40° 17.052′ N, 76° 52.623′ W. Marker is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in Dauphin County. Marker can be reached from Azalea Drive east of North Cameron Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 10 Azalea Drive, Harrisburg PA 17110, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regarding Harrisburg State Hospital. The hospital closed in 2006, and options for preservation and/or redevelopment are still under consideration as of 2021.
"In 1999 Harrisburg State Hospital was used for the hospital setting in the film, Girl, Interrupted. The majority of the film was shot in the Male Convalescent Building and the Administration Building. Other various locations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania were also used. The Harrisburg State Hospital settings
Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital (courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine), 1851
3. Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital
This was the frontispiece for By-laws of the Penn'a State Lunatic Hospital, at Harrisburg : with the acts of the Legislature establishing the same (1851).
were meant to resemble those of the grounds of McLean Hospital in Massachusetts. The hospital was still an active Pennsylvania state hospital during the filming of the movie...."
(Submitted on January 8, 2022.)
Credits. This page was last revised on May 25, 2023. It was originally submitted on January 8, 2022, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 660 times since then and 82 times this year. Last updated on May 24, 2023, by Laura Klotz of Northampton, Pennsylvania. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on January 8, 2022, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. • J. Makali Bruton was the editor who published this page.