Stockton State Hospital or the Stockton Developmental Center was
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 ...
's first
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, dissociative ...
. The hospital opened in 1851 in
Stockton, California
Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
and closed 1995–1996. The site is currently used as the Stockton campus of
California State University, Stanislaus
California State University, Stanislaus (Stanislaus State, Stan State) is a public university in Turlock, Stanislaus County, California. It is part of the California State University system. It was established in 1957 and is also the only cam ...
.
History
It was constructed as the Insane Asylum of California at Stockton in 1851. It was on of land donated by Captain
Charles Maria Weber
Rancho Campo de los Franceses was a Mexican land grant in present-day San Joaquin County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Guillermo Gulnac. "Campo de los Franceses” which in English means “French Camp” refers ...
. The legislature at the time felt that existing hospitals were incapable of caring for the large numbers of people who suffered from mental and emotional conditions as a result of the
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
, and authorized the creation of the first public mental health hospital in
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 ...
. The hospital is #1016 on the Office of Historic Preservation's
California Historical Landmark
A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance.
Criteria
Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...
list, and today is home to
California State University
The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...
's Stanislaus - Stockton Campus. A cemetery for patients who died there is located on the property.
In April 1888 Frank A Peltret, an investigative reporter for the ''San Francisco Examiner'', posed as an insane man to be admitted into the California State Insane Asylum at Stockton. He remained in the asylum for several weeks before his colleague outside the asylum obtained Peltret's release. Peltret wrote a revealing newspaper article about his personal experiences and observations as an inmate. He gave a generally favorable report. He said the experience was better than he had expected. Nevertheless, he thought the asylum needed workshops to give the inmates something to do, more variation in the dining hall menu, more physicians, and closer supervision and training of the asylum attendants.
On May 17, 1853 the Stockton General Hospital changed its name to the Insane Asylum of the State of California.
In April 1856 Dr. Samuel Langdon, the second Superintendent of the asylum in its history, fought a duel with Dr. William Ryer, his assistant physician, resulting in a bullet wound to Dr. Langdon's knee and his eventual replacement as Superintendent.
Famous patients
*
Sarah Althea Hill
Sarah Althea Hill (March 26, 1850 – February 14, 1937) was a socialite, mistress, and mentally unstable woman with a history of violent behavior who became a national celebrity when she sued millionaire Senator William Sharon for divorce, citing ...
[“Great Minds That Failed,” ''Fresno Morning Republican'', July 25, 1894, p. 3]
*
Carroll Edward Cole
Carroll Edward Cole (May 9, 1938 – December 6, 1985) was an American serial killer who was executed in 1985 for killing at least fifteen women and one boy by strangulation between 1947 and 1980. He confessed to a total of 35 murders.
Early lif ...
References
External links
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Stockton State Hospitalat
Find a Grave
Find a Grave is a website that allows the public to search and add to an online database of cemetery records. It is owned by Ancestry.com. Its stated mission is "to help people from all over the world work together to find, record and present fin ...
Former Sockton State HospitalSet of images at
Flickr
Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...
of the remaining buildings that are left
"San Joaquin Historian" July-September 1976"San Joaquin Historian" October-December 1976"San Joaquin Historian" Summer 1998"So Far Disordered in Mind, Insanity in California 1870-1930"
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Hospital buildings completed in 1853
Buildings and structures in Stockton, California
Psychiatric hospitals in California
Cemeteries in California
Hospitals established in 1851