Northampton State Hospital
Village Hill is built on the site of the Northampton State Hospital where 65,000 mentally ill patients once lived. When it first opened in 1858 as the Northampton Lunatic Asylum, it was at the forefront of humane treatment of the mentally ill. It provided rest, nutrition, fresh air, attentive staff, physical activity, and intellectual stimulation in a scenic landscape so that mentally ill persons could improve on their own. By 1900, the hospital was overcrowded, underfunded, and short-staffed. Custodial care became the norm. When the hospital finally closed in 1993, the conditions had been severely inadequate for decades. As part of the redevelopment of the State Hospital, the Historical Commission worked to memorialize the hospital, and those who lived, worked, and died there.
State Hospital Walking Tour
Take a self-guided walking tour around the former State Hospital campus. A series of interpretive signs tell the story of the hospital, those who lived and worked there, show history images of buildings and landscapes, and what remains today in and around Village Hill.
State Hospital Time Lapse Map - Compare today's Village Hill with the Hospital Campus over time
Walking Tour Map
Walking Tour Signage
Burial Ground
State Hospital Patients
Old Main Fountain
'Lunatic Asylum on Hospital Hill'
Working at the Hospital
The Coach House
The South Infirmary
The Nurses Home
Treating Mental Illness
The Entrance Gate
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