Because of its significance in the history of the treatment of the mentally ill and its layout and institutional architecture, the hospital area was accepted to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[3]
History
Grafton State Hospital was established in 1901 as a farm colony for "chronic insane patients" of the Worcester State Hospital. In 1912 it was administratively separated from Worcester.[citation needed]
The Grafton campus was built to both increase the capacity of the Worcester hospital and to provide therapeutic work for patients. To start the new hospital, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts purchased approximately 700 acres (280 ha) of land in northeast Grafton and abutting portions of Shrewsbury, from the Ashley and Sinclair families, Samuel Knowlton and Lyman Rice.[4] Intended to be self-sufficient, agriculture was an important part of the hospital's plan. As the agricultural focus grew other areas of treatment suffered, leading the state to conclude in 1945 that "there is little or no occupational therapy in effect now. Farming, canning, and general maintenance are the institution's principal occupations."[5]
In 1957, noted jazz musician Thelonious Monk was briefly held for observation at the Grafton State Hospital after a State Trooper found him at Logan Airport acting erratically and then becoming unresponsive to questioning.[6]
The hospital closed in 1973 when Dr. Sevinsky was charged with raping several of the patients as the first in a series of closures of state institutions in Massachusetts, in a process known as deinstitutionalization.[1][7]
Year 1945: 1730 patients, 250 staff with 241 vacancies
Year 1956: 4537 patients, 200 staff
Year 1973: 641 patients
Campus
The colony is located at the juncture of the Grafton, Shrewsbury, and Westborough town lines, centered at the junction of Pine Street and Westborough Road (Massachusetts Route 30) in North Grafton. The original site of 700 acres (280 ha) was expanded to over 800 acres (320 ha) by 1908 with the purchase of portions of Green Hill to expand the water supply. By 1945 it encompassed 1,200 acres (490 ha).[1] The Hospital occupied a hilly scenic site surrounded by woodlands, wetlands, and agricultural fields which are still used for hay, corn, and animal pasture by the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Much of the hospital's land was previously farmland which had been allowed to go fallow by private owners in the late-nineteenth century, and was only gradually reclaimed for productive use by the hospital.[1]
Tnts and was developed with large-scale brick wards that provided locked confinement for large numbers of inmates. Similarly, Elms was developed with masonry buildings for "excited" male patients. A few wood-frame dormitories provided a transition for more stable patients. As the center of agricultural activities, Oaks was developed with unlocked cottages for male patients who had proved themselves trustworthy and industrious. The Willows was developed somewhat later during the campus expansion was similar to Oaks. The classes of patients were defined in terms of behavior rather than diagnosis, e.g. "excited", "violent", "quiet", "peaceful", etc.[1]
121 acres (49 ha) of the original site has become Centech Park, part of a state designated Economic Target Area and now home to several companies.[8]
In 2008 Tufts began construction of the New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory on 100 acres (0.40 km2) of former Hospital land. The development will be the anchor of the Grafton Science Park, designed to spur economic development in Grafton.[9] The laboratory will be capable of Biosafety level 2 and 3 research on infectious agents.[10]
^Preer, Robert (2007-07-08). "Specters of old state hospitals vanish as new uses take shape". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-11-24. Grafton State Hospital. This 1,000-acre (400 ha) property in the central Massachusetts hills near Worcester already has Tufts Veterinary School on half of it. Also on the property are the Federal Job Corps offices and residential facilities run by the state Department of Youth Services and state Department of Mental Retardation. A business park is being developed on 121 acres (49 ha), and housing is planned for a 50-acre (20 ha) parcel. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has a commuter rail station there, too.
^"Grafton Reconnaissance Report"(PDF). Blackstone Valley / Quinebaug-Shetucket Landscape Inventory. Massachusetts Heritage Landscape Inventory Program. Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation. July 2007. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
^Hammel, Lee (2011-04-11). "Westboro State Hospital set to close". Worcester Telegram and Gazette. Retrieved February 26, 2011. Westboro State Hospital is only the latest on the list of state hospitals to be shuttered. Since 1973, when Westboro's close neighbor, Grafton State Hospital, closed its doors, nine state hospitals have closed, with Westboro about to join the list, leaving only Worcester and Taunton.
^"Centech Park". Grafton Economic Development Commission. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
^"Grafton Science Park". Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
