Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane
| Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane | |
|---|---|
Exercise yard
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| Geography | |
| Location | Matteawan, Dutchess County, New York, United States |
| Coordinates | 41°31′20″N 73°57′02″W / 41.522212°N 73.95057°WCoordinates: 41°31′20″N 73°57′02″W / 41.522212°N 73.95057°W |
| History | |
| Founded | April 1892 |
| Closed | 1 January 1977 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in New York |
Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane was established in 1892 as the Matteawan State Hospital by an 1892 law (Chapter 81), Matteawan functioned as a hospital for insane criminals. The new hospital confined and treated individuals committed to it by criminal courts and inmates who were declared insane while serving their sentences at State institutions. The Superintendent of State Prisons had control over the hospital.
In 1886, a New York State legislative commission recommended the purchase of the 246-acre (100 ha) Dates Farm in the village of Matteawan for $25,000. The site was rural, yet accessible by rail and offered good tillable land, pure water and pleasant scenery between the Hudson River and the Fishkill Mountains. Architect Isaac Perry, known for finishing work on the New York State Capitol, was hired to design the main hospital building with "an abundance of light and ventilation" to accommodate 550 patients. In April 1892, the Asylum for Insane Criminals, with 261 patients, was relocated from Auburn to its new site. The following year, it was renamed Matteawan State Hospital.
In 1899, another prison mental hospital was built on the grounds of Clinton. Dannemora would hold male convicts who became insane while serving their sentences, and had the power to retain them if they remained insane at expiration of their sentences. Matteawan would hold unconvicted males as well as females in both categories.
Except for tighter security, Matteawan functioned the same as the state's civil hospitals. Doctors prescribed a program of "moral treatment" developed in the early 1800s. It consisted of kind and gentle treatment in a stress-free, highly routine environment. Patients who were capable were assigned to a work program: cooking, maintenance, and making baskets, rugs, clothing and bedsheets. Like all institutions of its time, Matteawan included extensive acreage for farming to feed its residents. Up to 700 acres (280 ha) were devoted to vegetable and fruit cultivation, a dairy farm, a piggery and pasture land for the animals. Barns and other farm buildings were built down the hill from the asylum. These included a tool shed built in 1900, a greenhouse (1919), a large residence hall for male patients and staff assigned to work the farm (1932) and a horse stable (1933).
In 1906 head attendant Nellie Wicks was killed when she was stabbed by an inmate. Attendant Wicks is the first known female law enforcement officer to be killed in the line of duty in the United States. She had served with the New York State Department of Correctional Services for one year.
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Wikipedia