Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
The hospital was established by the state's General Assembly in the early 1850's following the need for a state-run asylum. It was determined that the hospital will be built following the Kirkbride plan and was done so following Gothic Revival and Tudor Revival architecture styles. Construction began in 1858 by the labor of local prisoners. Later on, skilled stonemasons were brought in from Germany and Ireland to finish the construction. Construction came to a halt during the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 and did not resume until funds were re-issued one year later. the hospital finally opened its doors for patients in 1864, but construction continued on until 1881. The hospital spanned across 666 acres.
The name was changed to Weston State Hospital in 1913. The hospital was originally planned to 250 on its construction but by the year 1938, it housed an average of 1,661 patients. In 1935, a patient set fire to one of the wings that later needed to be rebuilt using WPA funding. The West Virginia Lobotomy Project was held here in the 1950s. The goal of this project was the reduce overcrowding by "curing" as many patients as possible via lobotomy. This did not bring relief and overcrowding continued at the hospital. By the 1980's, the patient population was significantly decreasing. In 1986, the Governor announced a plan that would call for a new hospital to be built and the original asylum to be converted to a prison. The new hospital facility was built and all patients were transferred over but the original asylum was never converted to a prison, just closed for good in 1994.
The hospital campus was abandoned for several years to follow. In 1999, it was discovered that local city and county police officers were playing paintball in the building and causing damage to the interior. In 2004, three small museums were opened on the first floor of the Kirkbride but were soon shut down due to fire code violations. The state auctioned off the property in 2007 to the highest bidder. Joe Jordan won the asylum at a bid of $500,000. Slowly the hospital grounds became a spectacular example to historic preservations. Today anyone can visit the site and take tours of all kinds, visit the museum, hunt for ghosts, and do many more activities that involve the history of the former state asylum.
Read MoreThe name was changed to Weston State Hospital in 1913. The hospital was originally planned to 250 on its construction but by the year 1938, it housed an average of 1,661 patients. In 1935, a patient set fire to one of the wings that later needed to be rebuilt using WPA funding. The West Virginia Lobotomy Project was held here in the 1950s. The goal of this project was the reduce overcrowding by "curing" as many patients as possible via lobotomy. This did not bring relief and overcrowding continued at the hospital. By the 1980's, the patient population was significantly decreasing. In 1986, the Governor announced a plan that would call for a new hospital to be built and the original asylum to be converted to a prison. The new hospital facility was built and all patients were transferred over but the original asylum was never converted to a prison, just closed for good in 1994.
The hospital campus was abandoned for several years to follow. In 1999, it was discovered that local city and county police officers were playing paintball in the building and causing damage to the interior. In 2004, three small museums were opened on the first floor of the Kirkbride but were soon shut down due to fire code violations. The state auctioned off the property in 2007 to the highest bidder. Joe Jordan won the asylum at a bid of $500,000. Slowly the hospital grounds became a spectacular example to historic preservations. Today anyone can visit the site and take tours of all kinds, visit the museum, hunt for ghosts, and do many more activities that involve the history of the former state asylum.
