| Bianca C. The Worcester State Hospital was established in 1830 by Massachusetts as the image of the modern state hospital in the United States. The principle founder was Horace Mann. This hospital is one if the oldest and most influential mental institutions in America. The most pressing health problems facing the American people at the time were mental illness, along with cancer, and heart disease. By the early 1870s, there was a general agreement that the old Worcester asylum building, opened in 1833, had become unsatisfactory for the state’s needs. Merrick Bemis, the superintendent, called for construction of the new asylum based on a group of smaller, non-central, buildings. Although this was firstly approved, it was soon rejected and the more traditional Kirkbridge model was agreed upon. The new asylum was designed by Worcester architect, Ward P. Delano, and completed in 1877 at a cost much over one million dollars. Ward P. Delano, of the firm Fuller and Delano of Worcester, also designed the Worcester Theater and City Hospital. He died on September 25, 1915. In a book called The State and the Mentally Ill, it is described that the building looks kind of like a prison. This is not a coincidence either. When Kirkbridge was constructed, state asylums were becoming more safekeeping. There was a belief that mental illness was indeed curable in that time. This was, of course, being questioned and asylums were being built with a stronger focus on confining the patients, rather then treating them. Additional Information Today, the new hospital building is empty. It was severely damaged by a fire in 1991. Later, large sections of the building were torn down. The Clock tower and the Kirkbridge building’s right wing are still standing and are being preserved. What is left is only a tiny hint of what was such an impressive and great structure before. The abandoned building is still a peaceful place, even with route nine, a large office park, and the current hospital site nearby. It must have been even more peaceful before this city grew up around it. Even with the peacefulness of the place, the building is somewhat eerie and odd looking. It looks more like a weird castle or citadel more than a hospital. It is strange to think that the people involved in creating this structure felt that this building could be calming and stable. The Worcester State Hospital actually had two large asylums at the time. “The Lunatic Hospital” was located at Lake Quinsigamond. “The Insane Asylum” was on Summer Street, as the first to be established in the state. Worcester State hospital was a mysterious and interesting part of our city, Worcester’s, history. |