Mendocino State Hospital, formally known as Mendocino State Asylum for the Insane, was a psychiatric hospital in Talmage near Ukiah,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, was established in 1889 and in operation from July 1893 to 1972. The hospital programs included the rehabilitation of the criminally insane, alcoholic and drug abuse rehabilitation, a psychiatric residency program, industrial therapy, and others. The property now is part of the

City of Ten Thousand Buddhas The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas () is an international Buddhist community and monastery founded by Hsuan Hua, an important figure in Western Buddhism. It is one of the first Chan Buddhist temples in the United States, and one of the largest Bud ...

community.

History

The hospital was established in 1889 and opened in July 1893, and the first superintendent was Dr. Edward Warren King. By June 1900, the Ukiah district attorney Hon. T. L. Carothers filed charges against Dr. Edward Warren King, for reasons including, "incompetency, lack of medical skill, high-handed and dictatorial methods, lack of ability to command respect of his subordinates" and other charges. This hospital was the destination for inmates charged with crimes but found not guilty by reason of insanity. Its earliest patients, all male, were transferred from other state mental institutions at

Stockton State Hospital Stockton State Hospital or the Stockton Developmental Center was California's first psychiatric hospital. The hospital opened in 1851 in Stockton, California and closed 1995–1996. The site is currently used as the Stockton campus of California St ...

and

Napa State Hospital Napa State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Napa, California, founded in 1875. It is located along California State Route 221, the Napa- Vallejo Highway, and is one of California's five state hospitals. Napa State Hospital holds civil and for ...

. The name of the hospital was changed in 1893 to the Mendocino Asylum. Female patients were accepted beginning in 1894. Two additional wards were built in 1910 and 1918, respectively and a major renovation and expansion of the facility took place between 1925 and 1933. The original main,

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 ...

building was completed in 1893, was razed in 1952. By 1932, the hospital had over 1,900 patients and 300 employees and by 1935, the figure had risen to over 2,600 patients. The hospital population hit a high in 1955, at over 3,000 patients and 700 employees. Increasing discharges and transfer of the criminally insane to the

Atascadero State Hospital Atascadero State Hospital, formally known as California Department of State Hospitals- Atascadero (DSHA), is located on the Central Coast of California, in San Luis Obispo County, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. DSHA is an all-male, ...

eased the overcrowding. By 1966, population was back under 1,800 patients. In 1920, Dr. Martha G. Thorwick was affiliated with this hospital. This hospital was one of the many state asylums that had sterilization centers. Roughly 1,600 patients died at the Mendocino State Hospital with 1,200 were cremated, and 400 people were buried in a mass grave at the Ukiah Cemetery (after the graves were relocated). In 1972, the hospital was closed.

Notable patients

John Aasen John Aasen (March 5, 1890 – August 1, 1938) was an American silent film actor and sideshow performer who was one of the tallest actors in history. Early life Aasen was born on March 5, 1890, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His mother, Kristi (Dan ...

, actor *Luella Pearl Hammer, convicted kidnapper, she was transferred here in 1936 from

San Quentin Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

*Albert Ives, one of the criminal protegés of gangster and murderer

Juanita Spinelli Evelita Juanita Spinelli (October 17, 1889 - November 21, 1941) nicknamed The Duchess, was the first woman to be executed by the state of California. She was a gangster and ex-wrestler. Criminal history FBI profiler Candice DeLong described Spi ...

, also known as "The Dutchess". *Edward H. Evans, confessed murderer of writer

Frederick Ferdinand Moore Frederick Ferdinand Moore (24 December 1881 – 16 January 1947) was an early 20th century American novelist, short story writer, editor, publisher, soldier and war correspondent. His first novel ''The Devil's Admiral'' was inspired by his exten ...

. *

Herbert Mullin Herbert William Mullin (April 18, 1947 – August 18, 2022) was an American serial killer who killed 13 people in California in the early 1970s. He confessed to the killings, which he claimed prevented earthquakes. In 1973, after a trial to det ...

, serial killer *

Kalla Pasha Kalla Pasha (born as Joseph T. Rickard; March 5, 1879 – June 10, 1933) was an American professional wrestler, vaudeville comedian, and film actor active during the silent era. Biography Kalla Pasha was the stage name of Joseph T. Rickard ...

, actor, convicted of assault due to insanity in 1932. *

Yuri Schwebler Yuri "George" Schwebler (1942–1990), was a Yugoslavia-born American conceptual artist and sculptor. He was active in the arts in the 1970s in Washington, D.C. and most notably in February 1974, he transformed the Washington Monument into a sund ...

, conceptual artist, he spent two month here in 1970 *

Frances Simpson Stevens Frances Simpson Stevens (1894 – July 18, 1976) was an American painter, who is best remembered as one of the few Americans to directly participate in the Futurist Movement. Stevens was also one of the artists who exhibited at the landmark show ...

, painter, admitted in 1961 * William Erwin Walker, criminal, condemned murderer File:Mendocino State Hospital.jpg, Mendocino State Hospital () File:Appendix to the Journals of the Senate and Assembly of the session of the Legislature of the State of California (1903) (14591392669).jpg, Mendocino State Hospital (1903) File:Mendocino state hospital1.jpg, Mendocino State Hospital ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendocino State Hospital 1889 establishments in California Psychiatric hospitals in California Kirkbride Plan hospitals History of Mendocino County, California

History

Notable patients

See also

References