Lanterman Developmental Center, opened under the name the Pacific Colony, was a public psychiatric hospital and a facility serving the needs of people with

developmental disabilities Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

, and was located in the

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley (), sometimes referred to by its initials as SGV, is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, with the city of Los Angeles directly bordering it to the west and occupying the vast majority of the southeastern ...

in what was once Spadra (now part of Pomona),

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In 87 years of operation, the hospital served appropriately 14,000 people. At the time of closure in 2015, the hospital had nine patient buildings, one acute hospital unit, a variety of training and work sites, a vocational training center, and recreation facilities, a research and staff training building, a child day care center for community and staff members' children, a credit union, and the

California Conservation Corps The California Conservation Corps, CCC, is a department of the government of California, falling under the state Cabinet (government), cabinet-level California Resources Agency. The CCC is a voluntary work development program specifically for me ...

Pre-history

The Pacific Colony was part of a program to understand, "the problem of feeble mindedness," funded by California Legislature in 1917 and initially located in

Walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

. The first patients were added to the program on March 20, 1921, however the site was inappropriate (in part due to a lack of water) and it was closed on January 23, 1923.

History

The facility was moved to a new location (near Pomona) and re-opened on May 2, 1927. The campus sat on 302 acres, and offered 24-hour residential care for lifelong conditions like

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

, Down syndrome, and

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

. This hospital was one of the many State of California-run asylums that had sterilization centers. The ''State Narcotic Hospital Spadra'' was a different program that shared the campus grounds. In 1953, the named was changed to the Pacific State Hospital. In 1979, the name was changed to the Frank D. Lanterman State Hospital and Developmental Center, named after the California State Assemblyman Frank D. Lanterman who fought for the civil rights of developmentally disabled people. In 2015, the hospital was named as one of the state run facilities with cases of multiple deaths and neglect, documented between 2003 and 2012. The hospital and facility building was fully closed on July 1, 2015, the same year ownership of the property was transferred to

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona) is a Public university, public Institute of Technology (United States)#Polytechnic universities, polytechnic research university in Pomona, California, United States. It is the l ...

. Other California state-run hospitals that specialized in developmental disabilities included Sonoma Developmental Center,

Agnews Developmental Center Agnews Developmental Center were two psychiatric and medical care facilities, located in Santa Clara, California and San Jose, California respectively. History In 1885, the center, originally known as "The Great Asylum for the Insane", was estab ...

Camarillo State Mental Hospital Camarillo State Mental Hospital, also known as Camarillo State Hospital, was a public psychiatric hospital for patients with both developmental disabilities and mental illness in Camarillo, California. The hospital was in operation from 1936 to ...

, Fairview Developmental Center, Porterville Developmental Center, Canyon Springs Developmental Center, and Sierra Vista. The television series

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

(in 2016), and Glow (in 2017) were filmed at this location. Notable patients at the Lanterman Developmental Center include

Edward Bunker Edward Heward Bunker (December 31, 1933 – July 19, 2005) was an American author of crime fiction, screenwriter, actor, and a convicted felon. He wrote numerous books, some of which have been adapted into films. He wrote the scripts for—and ...

References

{{Authority control 1927 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Pomona, California History of Pomona, California

Pre-history

History

See also

References