Boston State Hospital is a historic mental hospital located in

Mattapan Mattapan () is a neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Mattapan is the original Native American name for the Dorchester area, Galvin, William Francis, (Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts)" Archaic Community, Distri ...

and

Dorchester, Massachusetts Dorchester () is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood comprising more than in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester, Dorset, E ...

. The court case '' Rogers v. Okin'', which increases patient consent rights, was filed by a

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

lawsuit against the hospital. The hospital was closed in 1979, and has been completely demolished and the site is in the process of being redeveloped as part of Mass Audubon's Boston Nature Center and Wildlife Sanctuary.

History

The facility dates back to Boston Lunatic Hospital founded in 1839 by the city and located at First Street in

South Boston South Boston (colloquially known as Southie) is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay (Boston Harbor), Dorchester Bay. It has under ...

(now northside of E 1st Street between L and N Streets). The hospital expanded to the former site of Home for the Poor at Austin Farm in 1887 and male patients transferred to Pierce Farm (Walk Hill and Canterbury Street what became Boston State Hospital) in 1895 when Austin Farms became a female facility. It was renamed Boston Insane Hospital in 1897 after transferring operations under city council to Board of Supervisor of Public Institution and became a Massachusetts state agency in 1908. The first site was demolished to become

Boston Edison Company The Boston Edison Company (BECo) was incorporated as the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston in 1886.; citing: International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 12. St. James Press, 1996. It was one of the earliest electric utility com ...

's South Edison Power Station in 1998 and now being re-developed as 776 Summer Street. In 1920 the Psychopathic Department broke off to form

Boston Psychopathic Hospital The Boston Psychopathic Hospital, established at 74 Fenwood Road in 1912, was one of the first mental health hospitals in Massachusetts, United States. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The name was c ...

. The Boston State Hospital closed their site in 1979 and ceased operations in 1981.

References

External links

* . (Various documents).
Institutionalization in Mattapan. Part II-Boston State Hospital
Defunct hospitals in Massachusetts Demolished buildings and structures in Boston Historic sites in Massachusetts Psychiatric hospitals in Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-hospital-stub