Elgin Mental Health Center

The Elgin Mental Health Center (formerly Elgin State Hospital & the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane) is a mental health facility operated by the State of Illinois in Elgin, Illinois. Throughout its history, Elgin's mission has changed. At times, it treated mental illness, tuberculosis, and provided federally funded care for veterans. The hospital's site, which included a patient-staffed farm reached a maximum of 1,139 acres (461 ha) after World War II. Its maximum population was reached in the mid 1950s with 7,700 patients. Between 1993 and 2008, most of the older buildings in the complex were demolished due to being in poor condition as the result of being abandoned for decades. The site is/was popular among teens and in the paranormal world due to its claims of hauntings in the older buildings and the hospital's cemetery.

Elgin Mental Health Center
Main entrance of the Center Building of the Elgin State Hospital in early 1993, just before demolition
Former names
  • Elgin State Hospital
  • Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane
General information
StatusActive - Most of old campus demolished
Type
  • Mental Care Facility
  • Hospital
Architectural styleItalianate
LocationElgin, IL
Address750 S State Street
CountryUnited States
Groundbreaking
  • 1870 (North wing)
  • July 1st, 1873 (Central section and South wing)
CompletedJuly 30, 1874
OpenedApril 3rd, 1872
Closed1973 (Kirkbride building)
DemolishedEarly 1993
Cost$330,000 USD (1874)
Technical details
Structural systemKirkbride Plan
MaterialBrick and stone
Size
  • North/South length: 776ft 4in
  • East/West width: 401ft
Floor count
  • 4 (Center section and transverse wings)
  • 3 (Intermediate, longitudinal wings)
Grounds1,139 acres
Design and construction
Architect(s)Stephen V. Shipman
DeveloperState of Illinois
Main contractor
  • Fish, Stephens and Sorenson (Center section and South wing)
  • W. F. Bushnell & Co (North wing)
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