Metropolitan State Hospital (Massachusetts)
|
Metropolitan State Hospital | |
 Administration Building | |
| Location | Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| Area | 330 acres (130 ha) |
| Built | 1927 |
| Architect | Gordon S. Kobb |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| MPS | Massachusetts State Hospitals And State Schools MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | [1] |
| Added to NRHP | January 21, 1994 |
The Metropolitan State Hospital was an American public hospital for the mentally ill, located on grounds that extended across parts of Waltham, Lexington, and Belmont, Massachusetts. At one time the hospital was the largest and most modern facility of its type in Massachusetts.[2] The Gaebler Children's Center for mentally ill youths was located on the grounds of the hospital.
It was closed in January 1992 as a result of the state's cost-cutting policy of closing its mental hospitals and moving patients into private care. As of 2009, the main complex of buildings has been demolished and a large apartment complex has been built.
The hospital's cemetery still rests on the grounds, maintained by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Gravestones are marked by number and religion, with but a few markings bearing names.
The Cemetery is labeled the Met-Fern Cemetery and both the Fernald School and Metropolitan State lay their late patients here, and even though Metropolitan State is adjacent to the Gaebler Children's Center, there is no real record of any of the adolescent patients being lay to rest in the Met-Fern Cemetery. [3]
History
Patient murder
In 1978, Metropolitan State patient Anne Marie Davee was murdered by another patient, Melvin W. Wilson.[4][5][6]
Redevelopment and open space
Since the hospital's closing, the area to the west of where the buildings once stood has been developed into apartment housing. The extensive wooded grounds are open to the public and protected in perpetuity from further development. The trails include part of the Western Greenway link open space in the region, connecting to the Rock Meadow conservation area in Belmont to the east, and, according to future plans, in 2009, to the Middlesex County Hospital area to the west.
The Administration Building, pictured above, is the only building of the campus to remain standing as of January 2015.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Waltham, Massachusetts
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
References
- ↑ Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ↑ Richard A. Hogarty (2002). Massachusetts politics and public policy: studies in power and leadership. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-55849-362-9.
- ↑ http://www.temblast.com/metfern/
- ↑ "The dismembered body of a Metropolitan State... " Boston Globe Newspaper Aug 12, 1980
- ↑ "Backman: Hospital Murder Data Missing" Boston Globe Newspaper Aug 15, 1980
- ↑ "Mental patient held in dismemberment murder". St. Joseph Gazette. Aug 13, 1980. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
External links
- Massachusetts Department of Mental Health
- Local History & Genealogy - Waltham Room, with information on the closing of the hospital
- Waltham Land Trust: The Western Greenway
- The area in the OpenStreetMap shows trails.
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