"The Weston State Hospital, also known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, was constructed in the late 1800s and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. It is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America, and is purportedly the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin. The original hospital, designed to house 250 souls, was open to patients in 1864 and reached its peak in the 1950s with 2,400 patients in overcrowded and generally poor conditions. Changes in the treatment of mental illness and the physical deterioration of the facility forced its closure in 1994 inflicting a devastating effect on the local economy, from which it has yet to recover. Today, the hospital is open to historical tours and ghost tours."
'Footbridge across the West Fork of the Monongahela River, Weston, W. Va., directly in front of the main entrance to the Weston State Hospital, ca. 1895.'
Front Lawn, Weston State Hospital, Lewis County, W. Va.
Date:
1924/06
Description:
A view of the front lawn at Weston State Hospital. 'This institution is located at Weston in Lewis County, and is reached by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and by the inter-urban line of the Monongahela Valley Traction. The Superintendent during this time was Dr. Cecil Denham, M. D. 1,252 patients were treated on July 1, 1924.'
