Worcester State Hospital
Also Known As THE WORCESTER LUNATIC Asylum. It opened in 1833, but by the 1870s, it had become inadequate for the state's needs. It was proprosed that contrsuction start on a brand new asylum - a grouping of much smaller, decentralized buildings. However, this was rejected, and a new, massive building was erected. It was designed by architect Ward P. Delano. Completed in 1877, the total cost reached well over one million dollars. In 1901 a satellite facility which became the Grafton State Hospital was opened in nearby Grafton, Massachusetts to give non-violent patients an opportunity to engage in therapeutic work in a rural environment.Overcrowding soon became a problem, and Merrick Bemis, the superintendent at the time, called for the construction of a new asylum. A massive structure was to be laid out in the Kirkbride Plan and located on Belmont Street. Construction began in 1870 and the newly built Worcester State Hospital was completed in 1876 at the cost of well ove...