State Lunatic Hospital at Worcester

In 1830, in order to provide care for the mentally ill in Worcester County, the governor of Massachusetts ordered the erection of a hospital on Summer Street in Worcester. Commissioners appointed to oversee the new building were Horace Mann (1796-1859), Bezaleel Taft, Jr. (1780-1846), and William Barron Calhoun (1795-1865). Dr. Samuel Bayard Woodward (1787-1850) served as the first superintendent/physician of the Worcester Lunatic Asylum. The hospital was enlarged in 1835 and was considered one of the best institutions in the country for the treatment of insanity. Its successor was Worcester State Hospital, located on Belmont Street. The majority of the records of the asylum to 1870 apparently were sent to the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard University.

From the description of Records, 1833-1924. (American Antiquarian Society). WorldCat record id: 207172812