Central State Hospital (Kentucky)

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Central State Hospital is a 192-bed adult psychiatric hospital located in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky, near Louisville. In 1869, land was bought from the Hite family, from the same original grant that would become nearby Anchorage, Kentucky. It was built on Lakeland Drive on the outskirts of Anchorage and it initially housed the "Home for Juvenile Delinquents at Lakeland," in 1873 it was converted into the state's fourth lunatic asylum, and renamed Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum. In late 1887 it was given its own post office, known simply as "Asylum," but early the next year the post office name was changed to "Lakeland," and it was commonly referred to as "Lakeland Hospital" or "Lakeland Asylum." By 1900 it's official name was changed to Central Kentucky Asylum for the Insane. Later it became known as Central State Hospital. Comparable institutions are Eastern State Hospital at Lexington, in Fayette County, Kentucky and Western State Hospital at Hopkinsville, in Christian County, Kentucky.

The secluded, rural setting was typical for such facilities in the late 19th century, as such an environment was thought to be beneficial for recovery from mental illness. However, not all patients had mental disorders, some suffered from brain damage, mental retardation or were simply poor or elderly. The early decades of the 1900's were marked by repeated allegations of abuse and malfeasance. Deaths went unreported and uninvestigated, and records were lost. It is unknown how many deceased patients are buried on the hospital grounds. Though built for 1,600 patients, by 1940 there were 2,400. However, starting in the 1950s, changing community perception of the mentally disturbed, as well as the development of effective psychiatric medications, lead to fewer patients staying permanently in mental hospitals, and the average stay at the facility was two weeks by the 1990s.

In 1986 a new facility was completed on the original grounds, and the old buildings were razed. Though it flirted with privatization in the 1970s, it is publicly operated today.