Grafton State Hospital

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.

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]

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]

• Massachusetts State Hospitals, hdl:2452/625416 – via State Library of Massachusetts electronic repository. (Various documents).
• http://www.1856.org/grafton/grafton.html