The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, known to many simply as Sheppard Pratt, is a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

located in

Towson Towson () is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 59,533 in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is t ...

, a northern suburb of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

. Founded in 1853, it is one of the oldest private psychiatric hospitals in the nation. Its original buildings, designed by architect

Calvert Vaux Calvert Vaux Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, FAIA (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape architect, landscape designer. He and his protégé Frederick Law Olmsted designed park ...

, and its Gothic gatehouse, built in 1860 to a design by Thomas and James Dixon, were designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1971.

History

Founded in 1853 by the Baltimore merchant

Moses Sheppard Moses Sheppard (1771-1857) was a Baltimore businessman, a Religious Society of Friends, Friend (Quaker), a philanthropist, and founder of the now-Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1771, to Nathan Sheppard ...

, (1771-1857), with an endowment of $560,000 (~$20 million in 2021) after a visit and inspiration by the well-known

mental health Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...

rights advocate and social reformer

Dorothea Lynde Dix Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802July 17, 1887) was an American advocate on behalf of the poor mentally ill. By her vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, she helped create the first gener ...

, the hospital was originally called the Sheppard Asylum. Located on the former country estate "Mount Airy Farm" of Baltimore merchant Thomas Poultney, between the

old York Road Old York Road, originally York Road, with reference to New York, is a roadway that was built during the 18th century to connect Philadelphia with New York City. The road was built along the Raritan tribe, Raritan tribe's Naraticong Trail, als ...

(then the Baltimore and York Turnpike) and (North) Charles Street Avenue, southwest of the suburban/rural

Baltimore County Baltimore County ( , locally: or ) is the third-most populous county in the U.S. state of Maryland. The county is part of the Central Maryland region of the state. Baltimore County partly surrounds but does not include the independent city ...

seat of then called Towsontown (today's Towson). The original buildings were designed by the famous architect

and constructed on what had previously been a farm, which had been purchased in 1858. The cornerstone of the original building was laid in the spring of 1862. Earlier Gatehouse designs in 1860 by

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

and

James Dixon James Dixon (August 5, 1814 – March 27, 1873) was a United States representative and Senator from Connecticut. Biography Dixon, son of William & Mary (Field) Dixon, was born August 5, 1814, in Enfield, Connecticut, Dixon pursued preparat ...

of Baltimore, and with hospital plans furnished by Dr. D.T. Brown of the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, to be constructed of stone and brick with a frontage of 375 feet. Originally accommodating 150 patients, the facility was designed according to the

Kirkbride Plan The Kirkbride Plan was a system of mental asylum design advocated by American psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809–1883) in the mid-19th century. The asylums built in the Kirkbride design, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings (or simp ...

. Sheppard stipulated that the following conditions were to be imposed for the Asylum:

Courteous treatment and comfort of all patients; that no patient was to be confined below ground; all were to have privacy, sunlight, and fresh air; the asylum's purpose was to be curative, combining science and experience for the best possible results; and that only income, not principal would be used to build and operate the asylum.

As a result of these financial restraints, the Asylum did not open until 1891, 34 years after Sheppard's death, and thirty-one after construction had first started. It also left it with financial uncertainty, putting its long-term future in doubt. The future of the Asylum was greatly enhanced five years later when in 1896, the estate of Baltimore merchant, businessman, banker, steamship line owner, and philanthropist,

Enoch Pratt Enoch Pratt (September 10, 1808 – September 17, 1896) was an American businessman in Baltimore, Maryland. Pratt was also a committed active Unitarian, and a philanthropist. He is best known for his donations to establish the Enoch Pratt Free ...

, (1808-1896) bequeathed a substantial amount of his remaining fortune, approx. $2 million (~$63.5 million in 2021), (after founding, constructing, and endowing the city's public circulating library system, the first in the country, with the

Enoch Pratt Free Library The Enoch Pratt Free Library is the free public library system of Baltimore, Maryland. Its Central Library is located on 400 Cathedral Street (southbound) and occupies the northeastern three quarters of a city block bounded by West Franklin S ...

on West Mulberry Street near Cathedral Street in 1882-1886) to complete the construction and expand the asylum as originally planned decades before with the stipulation that the name be changed to "The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital". Mr. Pratt knew Mr. Sheppard as a fellow merchant on Light Street, several blocks away from his establishment on South Charles Street during his early business career. He also admired and thought well of the original Sheppard Asylum trustees for having tried to maintain faithfulness with Mr. Sheppard's requests and desires that he expressed before his death. After some legal controversy between Pratt's family members and the Maryland legal community about the explicit terms of Pratt's will and bequest, the changes and visions were approved and upheld by the Maryland courts. In 2000, Sheppard Pratt retained the services HDR, Inc. to design a major expansion to the campus, which would be the largest addition to Sheppard Pratt since its inception. The new addition was as large as the original buildings, encompassing over , effectively doubling the size of the facility. with the expansion and renovation complete, patient rooms have been moved from the hospital's twin historic Victorian-era buildings to more modern facilities. Today the hospital is one of the leading mental health providers in the United States. It has been constantly ranked in the top 10 by '' U.S. News & World Report''.

The Retreat at Sheppard Pratt

The Retreat consists of a 22-bed unit designed for those seeking a "comprehensive evaluation and intensive treatment" experience in a psychotherapeutic milieu, unencumbered by the payment policies of third parties. The program at the Retreat includes 38 hours of group programming and 6-8 individual sessions with clinicians each week. The Retreat offers an elegantly appointed setting for an intermediate length of stay of several weeks to several months, where all residents stay at least 20 days. The Retreat offers a multi-disciplinary treatment approach to a variety of psychiatric conditions that can be treated safely and effectively in a voluntary, unlocked environment. Individualized treatment at The Retreat includes specialized practices such as

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that began with efforts to treat personality disorders and interpersonal conflicts. Evidence suggests that DBT can be useful in treating mood disorders and suicidal ideati ...

and

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive neurostimulation technique in which a changing magnetic field is used to induce an electric current in a targeted area of the brain through electromagnetic induction. A device called a st ...

References

External links

Sheppard Pratt website
*, including photo in 2000, at Maryland Historical Trust
Sheppard Pratt on Google Street View
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheppard And Enoch Pratt Hospital Hospital buildings completed in 1860 Hospitals established in 1853 Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Psychiatric hospitals in Maryland Hospitals in Baltimore County, Maryland National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Baltimore County, Maryland, landmarks Kirkbride Plan hospitals Towson, Maryland 1853 establishments in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Baltimore County, Maryland

History

The Retreat at Sheppard Pratt

See also

References

Further reading

External links