Weston State Hospital

This was West Virginia's first public institution. Its construction was begun by the State of Virginia before the separation of West Virginia from the mother state, the first appropriation having been made by the Legislature of Virginia, March 22, 1858. The institution was opened October 22, 1859, when nine patients were brought from Ohio, where they had been in temporary care awaiting the completion of the hospital. Dr. R. Hills, formerly of the Central Ohio Insane Asylum, was made superintendent and Dr. N. B. Barnes, assistant.

In the first years of its history the institution was encompassed with many difficulties. Not only were there financial troubles, but Confederate soldiers in a raid appropriated the blankets belonging to the patients, and in a second raid a ward was destroyed. The people of Weston very generously came to the rescue and contributed their own blankets to fill the temporary needs, public acknowledgment of which was made by the superintendent in his report. In 1868 the population of the hospital was 40; since that date there has been a continual increase in the number of inmates, and a corresponding increase in the appropriation for running expenses, until at the present time the population of the institution is 1023.

The grounds belonging to the hospital contain about 335 acres, and front about 2000 feet on the West Fork River, opposite the town of Weston, and extend back to the north to a depth sufficient for this acreage. With the exception of the site on which the buildings are located, which extends back from the river about 800 feet, the land is very steep and entirely unsuitable for tillage. A very small portion of it is used for gardening, but in the main it is used for grazing.

There are two producing gas wells upon the property, supplying abundant gas for all the needs of the institution, which were discovered in an effort to secure water by boring deep wells. The water supply is something of a problem with this institution, because the only source of supply is the West Fork River. The recent erection of a very large reservoir upon a high point of the hill in the rear of the building has solved the question of storage. So much filtering is needed, however, that it is difficult to get the water entirely free from sediment. There are some shallow drilled wells upon the premises, which are of considerable value in times of drought. More history...

 
wsh_2008_001_small.jpg wsh_2008_002_small.jpg wsh_2008_003_small.jpg wsh_2008_004_small.jpg wsh_2008_005_small.jpg wsh_2008_006_small.jpg
wsh_2008_007_small.jpg wsh_2008_008_small.jpg wsh_2008_009_small.jpg wsh_2008_010_small.jpg wsh_2008_011_small.jpg wsh_2008_012_small.jpg
wsh_2008_013_small.jpg wsh_2008_014_small.jpg wsh_2008_015_small.jpg wsh_2008_016_small.jpg wsh_2008_017_small.jpg wsh_2008_018_small.jpg
wsh_2008_019_small.jpg wsh_2008_020_small.jpg wsh_2008_021_small.jpg wsh_2008_022_small.jpg wsh_2008_023_small.jpg wsh_2008_024_small.jpg
wsh_2008_025_small.jpg wsh_2008_026_small.jpg wsh_2008_027_small.jpg wsh_2008_028_small.jpg wsh_2008_029_small.jpg wsh_2008_030_small.jpg
wsh_2008_031_small.jpg wsh_2008_032_small.jpg wsh_2008_033_small.jpg wsh_2008_034_small.jpg wsh_2008_035_small.jpg wsh_2008_036_small.jpg
wsh_2008_037_small.jpg wsh_2008_038_small.jpg wsh_2008_039_small.jpg wsh_2008_040_small.jpg wsh_2008_041_small.jpg wsh_2008_042_small.jpg
wsh_2008_043_small.jpg wsh_2008_044_small.jpg wsh_2008_045_small.jpg wsh_2008_046_small.jpg wsh_2008_047_small.jpg wsh_2008_048_small.jpg
wsh_2008_049_small.jpg wsh_2008_050_small.jpg wsh_2008_051_small.jpg wsh_2008_052_small.jpg wsh_2008_053_small.jpg wsh_2008_054_small.jpg
wsh_2008_055_small.jpg wsh_2008_056_small.jpg wsh_2008_057_small.jpg wsh_2008_058_small.jpg wsh_2008_059_small.jpg wsh_2008_060_small.jpg
wsh_2008_061_small.jpg wsh_2008_062_small.jpg wsh_2008_063_small.jpg wsh_2008_064_small.jpg wsh_2008_065_small.jpg wsh_2008_066_small.jpg
wsh_2008_067_small.jpg wsh_2007_001_small.jpg wsh_2007_002_small.jpg wsh_2007_003_small.jpg wsh_2007_004_small.jpg wsh_2007_005_small.jpg
wsh_2007_006_small.jpg wsh_2007_007_small.jpg wsh_2007_008_small.jpg wsh_2007_009_small.jpg wsh_2007_010_small.jpg wsh_2007_011_small.jpg
wsh_2007_012_small.jpg wsh_2007_013_small.jpg wsh_2007_014_small.jpg wsh_2007_015_small.jpg wsh_2007_016_small.jpg wsh_2007_017_small.jpg
wsh_2007_018_small.jpg wsh_2007_019_small.jpg wsh_2007_020_small.jpg wsh_2007_021_small.jpg wsh_2007_022_small.jpg wsh_2007_023_small.jpg
wsh_2007_024_small.jpg wsh_2007_025_small.jpg wsh_2007_026_small.jpg wsh_2007_027_small.jpg wsh_2007_028_small.jpg wsh_2007_029_small.jpg
wsh_2007_030_small.jpg wsh_2007_031_small.jpg wsh_2007_032_small.jpg wsh_2007_033_small.jpg wsh_2007_034_small.jpg wsh_2007_035_small.jpg
wsh_2007_036_small.jpg wsh_2007_037_small.jpg wsh_2007_038_small.jpg wsh_2007_039_small.jpg wsh_2007_040_small.jpg wsh_2007_041_small.jpg
wsh_2007_042_small.jpg wsh_2007_043_small.jpg wsh_2007_044_small.jpg wsh_2007_045_small.jpg wsh_2007_046_small.jpg
 

[BACK]

____________________________________________

Copyright 2007-2014 - Thomas Industries - All rights reserved