Allentown State Hospital was a
psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociat ...
located at 1600 Hanover Avenue in
Allentown, Pennsylvania. It served the counties of
Lehigh,
Northampton,
Carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...
,
Monroe,
Pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
, and occasionally eastern
Schuylkill. It was one of seven remaining psychiatric hospitals in Pennsylvania. Allentown State Hospital was demolished on December 28th, 2020.
History
Allentown State Hospital was planned as early as 1901 but the opening was delayed until October 3, 1912. The hospital cost $1,931,270 to build. The population hit its peak in 1950 with 2,012 patients. In November 1998, Allentown State Hospital was the first psychiatric hospital in the United States to be completely seclusion-free. Due to current community mental health efforts, the hospital's occupancy fell to as low as 175 patients.
Status and future
Due to the sharp decline in the need for psychiatric hospitals, the
Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services is a cabinet-level state agency in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services' seven program offices administer services that provide care and support to Pennsylvania's most vulnerabl ...
has closed the hospital. Some residents have been transferred to the Wernersville State Hospital in
Berks County
Berks County (Pennsylvania German: ''Barricks Kaundi'') is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 428,849. The county seat is Reading.
The Schuylkill River, a tributary of the Delaware River, ...
. Others have been placed in residential-care settings within the community. The hospital closed on December 17, 2010. The hospital was announced as the site of filming for the upcoming
M. Night Shyamalan film ''
Glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
'', a sequel to the films ''
Unbreakable
Unbreakable may refer to:
* '' Unbreakable: My Story, My Way'', a book written by Jenni Rivera
* Unbreakable (horse) (1935–1962), a Thoroughbred racehorse and sire
Film and television
* ''Unbreakable'' (film series), a trilogy directed by M ...
'' and ''
Split
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Arts, entertai ...
''. The Pennsylvania Department of General Services has placed bids to demolish all the buildings on the property (including the historic main building) by the end of 2019, after which time the property will be purchased by TCA Properties of Doylestown.
In popular culture
Parts of the 2019 movie ''
Glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
'' were filmed in Allentown at the Allentown State Hospital and elsewhere.
"Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson spotted in Allentown while in town for filming of 'Glass'
''The Morning Call'', November 1, 2017, retrieved February 22, 2019
See also
* List of historic places in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania, the third largest city in Pennsylvania and largest city in the Lehigh Valley region of the state, was established in 1762.
Allentown is one of the nation's oldest major cities with deep roots in its history. The city wa ...
References
External links
Historical Site
{{authority control
Hospital buildings completed in 1913
Psychiatric hospitals in Pennsylvania
Hospitals in the Lehigh Valley
Defunct hospitals in Pennsylvania
Buildings and structures in Allentown, Pennsylvania
1913 establishments in Pennsylvania
Hospitals disestablished in 2010