Westborough State Hospital, originally "Westborough Insane Hospital", was a historic hospital in Westborough, Massachusetts, which sat on more than 600 acres (240 ha). The core campus area was located between Lyman Street and Chauncy Lake,[2] north of Massachusetts Route 9. The hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.
Westborough State Hospital | |
Location | Westborough, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°18′4″N 71°36′37″W / 42.30111°N 71.61028°W |
Built | 1848 |
Architect | Elias Carter; Kendall, Taylor & Stevens |
Architectural style | Mid 19th Century Revival, Colonial Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman |
MPS | Massachusetts State Hospitals And State Schools MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 93001488 [1] |
Added to NRHP | January 21, 1994 |
The hospital was established in 1884 on the grounds of the State Reform School for Boys. The existing buildings were renovated to accommodate the needs of a mental hospital and was opened on December 1, 1886. This was the first homeopathic hospital for the insane established in New England; but such hospitals existed in New York, Michigan, and perhaps other states.[3]
The pioneering African-American psychiatrist Solomon Carter Fuller spent the majority of his career practicing at the hospital in the early 1900s. While there, he performed his ground-breaking research on the physical changes to the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients.
The hospital was closed in 2010, in anticipation of a new Worcester State Hospital opening in 2012.[4] The ten-bed Deaf Unit, the two Adolescent Units, and the Intensive Residential Treatment Program (one step below State Hospital Level) programs were closed by June 2010.[5]
On May 9, 2015, a memorial service was held in nearby Pine Grove Cemetery for the more than 500 patients who died at Westborough State Hospital and whose remains were unclaimed and subsequently buried in a potter's field. The service was part of a larger effort to put names to the graves of the deceased. Despite being on the historic register, the entire hospital complex was demolished during the summer of 2019.[6] A senior living complex is currently being built at the same location as the state hospital was.