Utica Psychiatric Center

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Utica State Hospital, Main Building
(U.S. National Historic Landmark)
Location:	1213 Court Street, Utica, New York
Built/Founded:	1838
Architect:	Capt. William Clarke, Andrew Jackson Downing
Architectural style(s):	Greek Revival
Designated as NHL:	July 30, 1989[1]
Added to NRHP:	October 26, 1971[2]
NRHP Reference#:	71000548
Governing body:	State

The Utica Psychiatric Center, also known as Utica State Hospital, which opened in Utica in 1843, was New York's first state-run facility designed to care for the mentally ill and was one of the first such institutions in the United States, predating and perhaps influencing the Kirkbride Plan which called for similar institutions nation-wide. It was originally called the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica. The Greek Revival structure was designed by Captain William Clarke and was funded through a combination of money provided by the state and contributions raised by Utica residents.

The asylum's first director was Dr. Amariah Brigham, who in 1844 became one of the original founders of American Psychiatric Association. An early proponent of treating mental illness rather than simply confining its sufferers, Dr. Brigham believed that his patients would benefit from the opportunity to work on the asylum's farm and grounds and on other useful occupational projects.. Dr. Brigham established a print shop at the asylum, where he published the American Journal of Insanity (later known as the American Psychiatric Journal).

The asylum was also the site of the invention of "The Utica Crib". The Utica Crib was named after the New York State Lunatic Asylum at Utica where it was heavily used in the 19th century to confine patients. The crib was based on a French design, then modified to incorporated slats that gave it an appearance similar to a child's crib.

[1] The Utica Crib, courtesy of www.mantenostatehospital.com.

While use of the Utica Crib was widely criticized and infamous among patients, some found it to have important therapeutic value. A patient who slept in the Utica crib for several days commented that he had rested better and found it useful for "all crazy fellows as I, whose spirit is willing, but whose flesh is weak." (Journal of Insanity, October 1864.)

In an opposing view, Daniel Tuke, a noted British alienist (an early term for a psychology expert) writes that, "it inevitably suggests, when occupied, that you are looking at an animal in a cage. At the celebrated Utica Asylum... where a suicidal woman was preserved from harm by this wooden enclosure... Dr. Baker of the New York Retreat allowed himself to be shut up in one of these beds, but preferred not remaining there."

The Center is now an unoccupied, run-down building, while other more modern buildings on the large property are in use for psychiatric and other medical care. It has been a National Historic Landmark since 1989.^[1],^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] Photos

Left side (East end) of Main Building

Center

Right side (West end) of Main Building

[edit] External links

• Utica State Hospital (Historic Asylums)
• Utica State Hospital (commercial photography site)

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	State of New York Psychiatric hospitals
Adult\Children Facilities	Capital District Psychiatric Center (Albany) | Elmira Psychiatric Center | Greater Binghamton Health Center | Hutchings Psychiatric Center (Syracuse) | Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center (Utica) | Rochester Psychiatric Center | South Beach Psychiatric Center (Staten Island) | St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center (Ogdensburg) |
Adult Facilities	Bronx Psychiatric Center | Buffalo Psychiatric Center | Creedmoor Psychiatric Center (Queens Village) | Hudson River Psychiatric Center (Poughkeepsie) | Kingsboro Psychiatric Center (Brooklyn) | Manhattan Psychiatric Center | Pilgrim Psychiatric Center (Brentwood) | Rockland Psychiatric Center (Orangeburg) | Washington Heights Community Mental Health Center (Washington Heights)
Children's Facilities	Bronx Children's Psychiatric Center | Brooklyn Children's Psychiatric Center | Queens Children's Psychiatric Center (Bellerose) | Rockland Children's Psychiatric Center | Sagamore Children's Psychiatric Center (Dix Hills) | Western NY Children's Psychiatric Center (West Seneca) |
Forensic Facilities	Central New York Psychiatric Center (Marcy) | Kirby Forensic Psychiatric Center (Ward's Island) | Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Center (New Hampton) | Rochester Regional Forensic Unit
Research Facilities	Nathan S. Kline Institute (Orangeburg) | New York Psychiatric Institute (New York City)
Closed Facilities	Asylum on Blackwell's Island (New York City) | Bloomington Lunatic Asylum (Morningside Heights) | Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane (Buffalo) Central Islip Psychiatric Center (Central Islip) | Dannemora State Hospital (Dannemora) Now know as Clinton Correctional Facility | Gowanda State Hospital (Collins) | Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center (Dover Plains) | Hudson River State Hospital (Poughkeepsie) | Kings Park Psychiatric Center (Kings Park) | Letchworth Village Home for the Feeble Minded and Epileptics (Thiells) | Long Island Developmental Center (Melville) | Manhattan Children's Psychiatric Center | Matteawan State Hospital (Matteawan) Now known as Fishkill Correctional Facility | Middletown Psychiatric Center (Middletown) | Mohansic State Hospital (Yorktown Heights) | Newville State Hospital (Newville) | New York Asylum for Idiots (Syracuse) | New York State Inebriate Asylum (Binghamton) | Utica State Hospital | (Utica) | Western New York Institution for Deaf-Mutes (Rochester) | Willard State Hospital (Willard) | Willowbrook State School (Staten Island) Institution for children with mental retardation
Sanatorium	Loomis Sanatorium (Liberty) | Interpines Sanatorium (Goshen)