Norman in Cleveland County, Oklahoma — The American South (West South Central)

Caring for People with Mental Illnesses

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 20, 2025

1. Caring for People with Mental Illnesses Marker

Inscription. Dozens of Oklahomans boarded a train in Jacksonville, Ill., one day in 1895. They were bound for the prairie town of Norman, Oklahoma, and the newly opened private sanitarium that would care for them. That was the beginning of what is now known as Griffin Memorial Hospital near this location. By the end of September, 1895, 78 patients were returned to Oklahoma.

Prior to 1895, Oklahoma Territory contracted out treatment of its mental patients to the state of Illinois. When the failed High Gate Academy buildings on the east end of Main Street in Norman became available, some Oklahoma doctors formed the Oklahoma Sanitarium Co. to open a facility here. They contracted with the territorial legislature to care for the patients closer to their families. The first patient, a woman from Woodward County, was admitted on June 15, 1895.

In 1915 the sanitarium was sold to the state and became known as Oklahoma State Hospital. The name was changed in 1952 to Central State Griffin Memorial Hospital. In 1994 the name was shortened to Griffin Memorial Hospital to honor Dr. David Griffin, an early-day hospital psychiatrist and administrator.

Inscribed

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on the hospital's Main Street front gate was “Norman Institute for Violently Mentally Insane.” Legend has it that Dr. Griffin, a psychiatrist from North Carolina, personally chiseled the word “Insane” off the sign in an early attempt to reduce the stigma of mental illness. Thousands of patients have received care at the hospital which, at one time, employed hundreds of Oklahomans. It was a gated city within our city. The hospital had a dairy (now the site of Griffin Park), a cattle operation, gardens, laundries, ice and power plants, and recreational areas for patients. Most patients had jobs within the institution. Doctors and administrators lived on the grounds with their families.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Science & Medicine. A significant historical date for this entry is June 15, 1895.

Location. 35° 14.073′ N, 97° 25.812′ W. Marker is in Norman, Oklahoma, in Cleveland County. It can be reached from Griffin Community Park's entrance road 0.1 miles north of East Robinson Street, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1001 E Robinson St, Norman OK 73071,

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 20, 2025

2. Caring for People with Mental Illnesses Marker

The silos are vestiges of the hospital's dairy farm. The area has since been transformed into a public park.

United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Central Oklahoma — Frontier Country

and in Greater Oklahoma City.

It is also in the American South,

specifically on the prairies,

and on the Southern Plains.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Moore-Lindsay Historic House Museum (approx. one mile away); Nation's First TG&Y Store Opened Here in 1936 (approx. one mile away); United States Post Office (approx. 1.1 miles away); 200 Block – South (approx. 1.1 miles away); 200 Block North (approx. 1.1 miles away); 100 Block – South (approx. 1.1 miles away); 100 Block – North (approx. 1.1 miles away); The Inception of Oklahoma Football (approx. 1.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Norman.

Regarding Caring for People with Mental Illnesses. The 120-bed Griffin Memorial Hospital continues

Dr. David Wilson Griffin (1873-1952) image. Click for full size.

Unidentified; Oklahoma Historical Society via The Gateway to Oklahoma History (Fair use), circa 1905

3. Dr. David Wilson Griffin (1873-1952)

Griffin (left) replaced Dr. A.H. Clark (right) as the then-private hospital's superintendent in 1910, following a blistering state inspection. In all, Griffin practiced more than 50 years at the facility.

to treat Oklahomans with mental illness, but the facility’s days in Norman are numbered. The state plans to transition care to a new facility under construction in Oklahoma City and sell the Norman campus. The move was initially anticipated for 2026 but might not occur until 2028, according to media reports. The City of Norman has expressed interest in acquiring the hospital site for possible use as a homeless shelter and associated services. – Duane Marsteller

Also see . . .
1. Images of America: Griffin Memorial Hospital. Google Books preview of 2021 photographic history book written by Suzanne H. Schrems for the Cleveland County Historical Society. (Submitted on July 27, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

2. 'Really its own city': Famed mental hospital in Norman still open over a century later. The 900 block of E Main Street in Norman — a mix of decades-old dilapidated buildings and newer up-to-date state facilities — is a fitting reflection of Oklahoma’s foremost attempt to seriously address mental health illness, an issue that has plagued the state before it even officially

Griffin Memorial Hospital image. Click for full size.

Not identified; Oklahoma Historical Society via The Gateway to Oklahoma History (Fair use), September 5, 1955

4. Griffin Memorial Hospital

Aerial view of the hospital grounds, which total 224 acres as of mid-2025.

became one. (Jessie Christopher Smith, The Oklahoman, April 14, 2022) (Submitted on July 27, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 27, 2025. It was originally submitted on July 27, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 158 times since then and 61 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 27, 2025, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.