This former state school campus has an incredible history of both good and bad. This institution was the first of its kind in the United States and in the entire western hemisphere of the planet. It was founded in 1848 by Samuel Gridley Howe. The campus quickly grew to house 72 buildings over 196 acres of land. Most patients were young boys there were deemed feeble-minded. While that is an important part of history overall, that is about the only good thing the institution was known for. The state school's third superintendent would change this history of this facility forever.

The superintendent from 1859 to 1924 was an advocate of the practice of eugenics. Through these years, the campus would become home to several experiments that would use the patients as test subjects against their will. Some of these procedures included sterilization, experimental surgeries, and radiation experimentation. The entire institution would eventually be named after this superintendent in 1925. The experimentation did not stop there. Between the years 1946-1953 Harvard University and MIT exposed a number of young children to radioactive isotopes. The experiment would study the absorption of calcium and iron in the human body. The children were told to join a science club where they were fed oatmeal, cereal, and milk there were secretly enriched with radioactive isotopes. Neither the children or their guardians were given informed consent of exactly what was going on.

The radioactive oatmeal incident, and other incidents, would lead to lawsuits in class action involving the institution. In 1995-1998, a class action suit in regards to the radioactive experiment granted the families of the "test subjects" $1.85 million. The hospital also suffered from horrendous living conditions and abuse from staff. On average, 36 children were crammed in a small room to live, most sleeping on the floor. Sexual and physical abuse was a daily occurrence at the institution. This changed when a lawsuit came to light in the 1993 that resulted in a reform of care to compensate for decades of neglect and abuse.

The campus made it well into the 2000's, with their scope of treatment now focusing on adults ages 27-96. It was proposed that the institution be shut down in 2004 and sold by 2007. Residents and the community came together to be sure that this did not happen, as they wanted the facility operational. In 2013, there were 13 residents living at the facility. Many buildings remained in operation while some individual buildings were closed decades ago. One year later in 2014, the last resident was discharged from the facility and it was officially listed as closed. The property was sold from the state to the town that year. The town plans to construct a new high school and police station on the grounds of the former facility.