Medfield State Hospital

Medfield State Hospital, originally the Medfield Insane Asylum, is a historic former psychiatric hospital complex at 45 Hospital Road in Medfield, Massachusetts. The asylum was established in 1892 as the state's first facility for dealing with chronic mental patients. The college-like campus was designed by William Pitt Wentworth and developed between 1896 and 1914, after an era dominated by asylums built using the Kirkbride Plan. Medfield Insane Asylum was the first asylum built using the new Cottage Plan layout, where patients were integrated into a small community to work a specific job, rather than being confined to cells.^[2] It was formally renamed "Medfield State Hospital" in 1914.^[3]

Medfield State Hospital
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Geography
Location	Medfield, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates	42°12′48″N 71°20′10″W
Organization
Funding	Government hospital
History
Former name(s)	Medfield Insane Asylum
Construction started	1892
Opened	1892
Closed	2003
Links
Lists	Hospitals in Massachusetts
Medfield State Hospital
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Former AIT Building at Medfield.
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Location	Medfield, Massachusetts
Built	1892
Architect	Wentworth, William Pitt; Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Queen Anne, Beaux Arts
MPS	Massachusetts State Hospitals And State Schools MPS
NRHP reference No.	93001481 [1]
Added to NRHP	January 21, 1994

The complex included 58 buildings at its height on a property of some 1.4 sq mi (3.6 km²), and a capacity of 2,200 patients. It raised its own livestock and produce, and generated its own heat, light, and power. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, but the property was closed in April 2003 and the buildings were shuttered. The grounds have been restored and opened to the public and are open every day from sun up to sundown. It has been used as a filming location for thriller and horror motion pictures such as The New Mutants, Shutter Island, and The Box. The Clark Building was demolished in 2012. Local Medfield Police now patrol the facility. Trespassing is strictly forbidden past dark.

Within the grounds of the hospital lies the Medfield State Hospital Cemetery which has 841 gravesites. This cemetery was opened from 1918 until 1988. Only numbers were on the graves until a Boy Scout from Troop 89 made it his Eagle Scout service project to find the names and dates of death of all those buried in the cemetery.^{[citation needed]}

The Odyssey House, the Carriage House, and the Laundry Building were demolished in 2013.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Norfolk County, Massachusetts