Hospital Was First In State For Those With Mental Illness

Staff Writer

acrable@lnpnews.com

HARRISBURG - The Harrisburg State Hospital, which opened in 1851, was Pennsylvania's first institution for people with mental illness.

It was inspired by famed reformer Dorothea Dix, and Pennsylvania's leading architects designed its buildings.

At its peak, the grounds covered some 1,000 acres, included 70 buildings and was home to more than 1,400 patients.

The hospital was self-sufficient, with its own farm, power plant and stores. Hidden from public view, it became known as the "City on the Hill."

Originally called the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Hospital, the institution's name was changed to Harrisburg State Hospital in 1921.

Lancaster County started sending its mentally disabled to the hospital in 1882, after its own almshouse was destroyed by fire.

The 30 state hospital buildings that remain and 183 acres are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Two movies were filmed in hospital buildings: 1999's "Girl, Interrupted" (also filmed partly in Lancaster) and "Another Harvest Moon," made by former Lancaster resident Greg Swartz in 2008.

In 2010, the television series, "Ghost Lab," filmed an episode on the grounds. The verdict: It's haunted.

The hospital closed in 2006. Many of its buildings are now used by various state agencies but the state has initiated plans to sell the buildings and land.