St. Elizabeth's Hospital

In 1855, the Government Hospital for the Mentally Insane opened as the very first federally operate psychiatric institution. Dorothea Dix pioneered the movement to establish this hospital. At her recommendation, Dr. Charles H. Nichols became the hospital's first superintendent. Between the two of them, they helped design the campus and turn it into a mental health institution for men, women, and African-Americans. Despite being segregated, this was never heard of!

At the outbreak of the Civil War, the West Lodge of the campus became a hospital for wounded Union soldiers. It was during this incarnation that the name St. Elizabeth's Hospital was adopted to differentiate with the mental health institution. In 1916, Congress passed legislation officially changing the name. 

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For a brief moment in the hospital's history, it housed animals coming in from abroad to rest before their official ending at the Smithsonian Zoo.

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At its height, the hospital held over 8,000 patients, but that would quickly come to an end. 

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In 1963, the Community Mental Health Act would end all institutions like St. Elizabeth's Hospital. This act, however, led to the establishment of well maintained and patient focused facilities. 

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In 1987, the campus would forever be changed. The east campus transferred into the hands of the Department of Health and Human Services, while the west campus remained in the hands of the government. ​

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By 2002, any patients left in east campus transferred to other facilities. 

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Today, the hospital lays in limbo.

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Half of it still remains in the hands of the government, while the other half lays in decay. 

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There have been attempts to destroy the abandoned campus.

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