Harrisburg State Hospital

The Harrisburg State Hospital is a mostly demolished state mental institution in Pennsylvania and was in operation from 1851 to 2006.

After much lobbying, headed by Dorothea Dix, the Harrisburg State Lunatic Hospital and Union Asylum for the Insane was formed in 1845 to provide care for the mentally ill in Pennsylvania. A nine-member board of trustees was appointed to purchase land, construct buildings, and hire a superintendent.

The hospital was changed to the Harrisburg State Lunatic Hospital after the state appropriated $50,000 for construction. Finished in 1851, the Main Building was designed in the Kirkbride Plan. The Kirkbride Plan, a system of mental asylum design advocated by Thomas Story Kirkbride, involved designing buildings where exposure to natural light and fresh air was imperative. Most buildings were built with a “bat wing” floor plan, with wings that sprawled outward from the center. The center housed the administrative offices, with the wings housing female and male wards.

The first patient was admitted on October 6, 1851. The Main Building initially had a capacity of 250 patients but was later expanded after the dining rooms were removed and with the addition of the North Branch and South Branch buildings.

The state hospital included a 130-acre farm that provided work therapy for the patients. It also enabled the facility to be mostly self-supporting by allowing patients to grow food and raise livestock.

In 1885, the male reading room was converted into a gymnasium. ⁷ By 1888, the Main Building was considered to be in poor condition. A minor renovation project was undertaken, involving the installation of new carpet in the hallways, repainting of the wards, and the purchase of new furniture. A central dining hall was also added, replacing the ward dining rooms, which were then converted into additional dormitories.

The North and South Branch buildings, for 320 disturbed and violent patients, opened in 1886. ⁷ The buildings were connected to the Main Building via an above-ground tunnel. A new Boiler House and Laundry Building were erected in 1887.

The patient population grew to over 1,000 patients by 1891. ⁷

In May 1893, an electric light plant was built within the boiler house. ⁸ Electrical wires were strung in the Main Building, enabling the use of lights to replace gas lamps and clocks.

Reconstruction

The Kirkbride Plan began to fall out of favor regarding asylum design by the late 1800s, as having a central building to house administrative offices and patients was not conducive to proper mental health treatment. Violent and noisy patients were housed with those individuals who had minor mental illnesses.

The Cottage Plan for asylum design began to be used more regularly. It consisted of individual buildings for specific patient types and sexes. Each building was typically less than two stories in height and connected to each other with a series of tunnels.

In May 1893, the state appropriated $100,000 for the reconstruction of the Harrisburg State Lunatic Hospital into a Cottage Plan. ⁸ The project, estimated to cost $400,000, included the construction of a new Administration Building to replace the Main Building, eight cottages, bakery, dining hall, chapel, amusement hall, nurse dormitory, and other associated outbuildings.

The campus would include a half-acre of ground for each patient, requiring the purchase of an additional 210 acres, and support 1,000 patients. ⁹ Each building was to be fireproof, include two stairways from the second levels, and be able to be warmed to 70 degrees.

The new Administration Building was built between November 1893 and May 2, 1895, and opened to staff on May 10. ² Designed by Philadelphia architect Addison Hutton, the first floor contained offices, while the second floor contained apartments for the medical staff. The third floor was home to the superintendent and family. The entire building was later used for offices and meeting space.

Following the opening of the new Administration Building, the center of the Main Building was carefully removed. ⁸

In 1897, $150,000 was appropriated to tear down the Main Building and its wards and construct new patient buildings. ⁸ The first set of male and female wards were removed in 1900 when the Infirmary Building opened, followed by the remainder of the male departments in 1906 as the new Psychopathic, Convalescent, and Violent Male buildings were finished. In 1910, the female wards were torn down as the new Psychopathic, Convalescent, and Violent Female structures were opened.

By 1912, most of the new Cottage Plan campus was finished. ⁹ The north side included four male buildings, while the south side featured four female buildings. The centre included a chapel, kitchen, and solarium. The rear incorporated the Infirmary Building. The North and South Branch buildings remained in use.

Patients were employed throughout the campus as a form of occupational therapy. ¹⁰ They prepared meals for patients and staff in the Central Kitchen, crafted brooms and chairs in the basement of the Chapel, built toys in the basement of the Male Chronic Building and made mattresses, blankets and other wares in various buildings. A tailor shop was added in 1926.

For amusement, residents danced away in the Sun Parlor, saw movies in the Chapel, played musical instruments in the hospital band and orchestra, and listened to the radio in their rooms. ¹⁰ A library in the Female Convalescent Building boasted thousands of books and magazines.

In 1921, the hospital’s name was changed to Harrisburg State Hospital. ¹⁰

In September 1938, $927,500 was allocated for the construction of two patient ward buildings, the renovation of the heating plant and laundry facilities, and the provision for an increased capacity of 200 patients. ²¹

By 1946, there were 2,441 patients, with 437 on parole at the hospital, with a capacity of 2,019. ¹⁸

After World War II concluded, the state began pushing plans for a $17 million improvement program at mental hospitals. ²⁰ Progress was initially slow as the federal government had frozen all building materials and equipment to give preference to housing for veterans. The state sought to have the hospital’s improvement deemed necessary and was given the go-ahead for its plans.

A new ward building, designed by Lawrie and Green, was erected in 1947 at the cost of $375,000. ¹⁷ In December, the state allocated $1,747,500 to construct a new Admissions Building. ¹⁹

In 1950, an additional $3,278,000 was allocated to develop the Hillcrest Building for female patients and the new Admissions Building, both under construction and for the modernization of the service building. ¹⁵ Both Hillcrest and Admissions opened in 1951. ¹⁰

Contracts were awarded for the Eaton Building, a 200-patient ward building, in December 1957. ¹⁶ It opened in 1960.

Operations

At the turn of the 20th century, hydrotherapy was used to treat or alleviate anxious or excited patients. ¹⁰ Some patients were wrapped in wet sheets and lay on a table for long periods. Others were put into rain baths, submerged in large tubs, or put through colonic irrigation. In the 1930s, Harrisburg began using insulin and electric shock therapy for residents. ¹⁰

During World War II, many male staff members were drafted into the military, causing a massive shortage of attendants. ¹⁰ At the lowest level of employment, the hospital had a ratio of one nurse to 166 patients. In June 1945, only 26 of the 92 attendant positions in the male wards were filled.

Decline

Psychotropic drugs were introduced in Harrisburg in 1952, ¹⁰ and in 1966, a law was passed that directed each county in the state to establish a county mental health program. ¹¹ The combination of newly introduced medication and community mental health services lessened the need for additional structures at Harrisburg. The process of deinstitutionalization was born out of a socio-political movement for community-based services and open hospitals. ¹ Harrisburg’s resident population was gradually reduced by releasing stabilized patients, shortening inpatient stays, and reducing admission and readmission rates. Programs were implemented to mitigate the reinforcement of dependency, hopelessness, and other maladaptive behaviors.

In 1969, Harrisburg modified how patients were housed. ¹¹ Previously, patients were housed in separate buildings by their type of illness, but a “unit” system was adopted in which all patients, regardless of illness, were placed in one building according to the county they were from. There were four “units” by 1971, along with geriatric, adolescent, and alcohol rehabilitation units.

A federal patient bill of rights was instituted in 1972, which fundamentally changed how the institution was run overnight. ¹¹ For instance, patients could not be subjected to lobotomies, electroshock therapies, or other unusual treatments without their consent. Patients could also refuse to perform labor that involved the operation and maintenance of the hospital unless they were voluntarily compensated by the minimum wage. State hospital farms, which once made many institutions nearly self-sufficient, were left fallow.

The unit system was also disbanded in 1972. ¹¹

By 1992, Harrisburg had only 450 inpatients, and only those who had repeated admissions to a county mental health center were referred to a state institution. ¹¹ Of those admitted, the average stay was just six months. By 2005, the hospital had only 148 residents.

In January 2005, the state announced plans to close Harrisburg State Hospital by January 2006. ¹² Money earmarked for the costly residential treatment programs would be shifted to cheaper and less restrictive community programs. More than half of the residents would be moved to community treatment centers, while about 120 of 250 patients would go to Danville State Hospital and Wernersville State Hospital.

Harrisburg State Hospital closed on January 27, 2006. ^{11 14} After the closure, about 35 patients remained under the care of individual counties and contractors. ¹³ Some buildings were reused as office space for state agencies, while others were mothballed, awaiting reuse or demolition.

Demolition

The state began preparing the demolition of 37 buildings at the former Harrisburg State Hospital campus in early 2025 as part of a $450 million redevelopment project to convert the site into a state-managed laboratory. ²² Demolition, except for a few buildings that were selected to be saved, was completed in 2026.