Lawrence Frick State Hospital

Lawrence Frick State Hospital was a state mental health hospital near Cresson, Pennsylvania that had several different names and uses before becoming defunct and converted into a prison in the 1980s.

Cresson Tuberculosis Sanatorium (1916–1964)

The facility ^[1] was used at first as a treatment center for tuberculosis patients as the mountain air was supposedly good for treatment. Construction on the facility started in 1912 and took four years to complete. The land on which this facility sat was donated by steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie.

Lawrence Frick State Hospital (1956–1984)

As the need for sanatoriums decreased in the 1950s due to the discoveries of modern medicine and tests for tuberculosis, the facility became a state hospital for the developmentally-disabled. The name of the facility changed over time becoming the Cresson State School and Hospital then later, Cresson Center. Finally in 1982, as then-Governor Dick Thornburgh was ready to sign an order for the center to become a correctional facility, the hospital was closed in December 1982, and the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections took over in 1984.

1969 Annex Fire

On January 2, 1969, a fire^[2] destroyed the Annex Building at the hospital, which at the time housed children. The three-story building, which was four structures connected together, burned to the ground. Low-water pressure in the hydrants on campus were to blame as well as gusting winds.

Current Day and Preservation (1987-Present)

• The graves of deceased patients has been turned into a memorial outside the facility by then-Pennsylvania First Lady, Ginny Thornburgh. The memorial is maintained by DOC Maintenance Employees and inmates at the facility.
• The facility re-opened in 1987 as State Correctional Institution – Cresson and operated as such until 2013.

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