Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital (also known as Greystone Psychiatric Park, Greystone Psychiatric Hospital, or simply Greystone and formerly known as the State Asylum for the Insane at Morristown, New Jersey State Hospital, Morris Plains, and Morris Plains State Hospital) referred to both the former

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 ...

and the historic building that it occupied in

Morris Plains, New Jersey Morris Plains is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,532,Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.

History

Early years

The idea for such a facility was conceived in the early 1870s at the persistent lobbying of

Dorothea Dix Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802July 17, 1887) was an American advocate on behalf of the indigent mentally ill who, through a vigorous and sustained program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, created the first gen ...

, a nurse who was an advocate for better health care for people with mental illnesses. At that time in history, New Jersey's state-funded mental health facilities were exceedingly overcrowded and sub-par compared to neighboring states that had more facilities and room to house patients. Greystone was built, all of it, in part to relieve the only – and severely overcrowded – "lunatic asylum" in the state, which was located in Trenton, New Jersey. Because of her efforts, the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

appropriated $2.5 million to obtain about of land for New Jersey's second "lunatic asylum". Great care was taken to select a location central to the majority of New Jersey's population. After visiting approximately 42 different locations, officials approved purchase of a portion of a few farms and lots, on August 28, 1981, near Morristown and a short distance from the Morris and Essex Railroad. The plots of land contained fertile soil, rock quarries for mining stone, a sand pit for building materials and reservoirs for water and ice access. The new asylum, when completed, would hold approximately 600 patients, with the large main building to be completed in sections as usage detailed. The plan of the main building was drafted to allow for a total of 40 wards split into two wings, one wing for each sx. There was to be no communication between wards. The corridors served a purpose other than just separating wards: they provided for fire protection, so that a fire would be unable to spread past a single section of the building. Upper floors in the center section contained apartments for employees, and the third story contained the amusement room and chapel for patients. Samuel Sloan was named architect of the main building and its smaller supporting buildings. Sloan chose to follow the Kirkbride Plan, a list of ideals pertaining to hospital design created by Thomas Story Kirkbride. There would be a center section for administrative purposes, then a wing on each side with three wards on a floor. Each ward would be set back from the previous one to allow patients to take in the beautiful grounds from their wards. Each ward was designed to accommodate 20 patients, with a dining room, exercise room and activity room. The wards were furnished with the highest quality materials such as wool rugs, pianos and fresh flowers. Patients worked on the farms growing and raising food and performed hard labor tasks in the clearing away of building debris, excavating for roads, and sodding grounds. The plan of the institution called for carriage drives ending at all doorways, and a central road leading up to the front entrance flanked by trees on both sides. Grounds on both sides of the wings would provide for simultaneous exercise of both sexes while keeping them separate. An industrial building opened in 1494, allowing for more jobs for patients than just manual labor jobs in farming or groundworks. It was a widely popular belief that putting the insane to work in certain circumstances was beneficial both to the patient and the institution. Those who were chronically ill, restless in the day and night, were thought to be aided in their general well-being by working out some of the oversupply of blood to the brain. Within the walls of the new building, male patients were able to make brooms, rugs, brushes, carpets, and do printing and

bookmaking A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookm ...

. By 1895, the State Lunatic Asylum was operating at 365 patients over capacity. The overcrowding was a major health and cleanliness issue, resulting in a small outbreak of

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over severa ...

, eventually blamed on the water supply. The passing of years brought no relief for a bursting hospital, occupied with 1,189 patients bedded down in an institution meant to hold only 800 every night. Cots were placed in activity rooms, exercise halls and hallways in order to try to find sleeping arrangements for all. "From a sanitary point of view these cots are an abomination," declared the board of managers. Cots were set up and taken down on a daily basis on the hallways, and were not able to be cleaned between uses. Patients often soiled themselves during the night, and the cots were simply handed out again the following evening. The asylum scrambled to create more housing. By 1901, the new dormitory building was completed and quickly filled, slightly easing crowding issues. Patients were once again able to be grouped according to disease classification and had access to exercise and activity rooms again. The new dormitory building would gain infirmaries and operating rooms in the coming years, as well as a bowling alley which was extremely popular among patients and staff during the winter months when outdoor exercise was not an option. By 1903, the hospital had crossed over the 1,500-patient mark, continuing its steady climb. Once again, the numbers were an issue. A state-of-the-art

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...

room was installed in the main building, and the women's wing of the dormitory received a

hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term ...

room. Medical Director Britton D. Evans described this new treatment in his report in 1961, writing, "It is well recognized that the application of water at varying degrees of temperature and pressure exerts influences of a valuable therapeutic character upon the entire human economy and aids the recuperative powers of the body." Female patients were able to receive treatment for their afflictions through use of douches, massages, and hot air cabinets. A hydrotherapeutic treatment room for male patients was opened the following year. By 1911, the newly renamed State Asylum at Morris Plains held 2,672 patients, and cots were once again placed in corridors and activity rooms. A photographic department was established and began documenting patients in hopes of cataloging facial expressions and characteristics which go with certain mental disorders. A dental clinic opened for treatment of teeth ailments. A

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, ...

pavilion was finished and occupied the following year, as well as a new larger fire department house, and enlargements to the greenhouse and piggery. In 1916, women began participating in sewing and arts and crafts on the top floor of the Industrial Building, and a small patient library was founded with 184 volumes of books. Annexes to the Dormitory building opened in 1817 to provide more space for housing. The next few years saw much progress in the department of building construction. The Voorhees Cottage and Knight Cottage were opened as homes for nurses, as well as cottages for senior physicians and the superintendent. The Psychiatric Clinic Reception Building opened in 1923 and all operating rooms, laboratories and x-ray equipment were moved to the new building. A Social Service Department was instituted, in charge of letting patients out for "trial" visits to help them assimilate back into the real world. Parts of the hospital are set aside of "War Risk Patients" or veterans from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

suffering from various mental diseases, including the yet-to-be-named

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...

(PTSD). The hospital was given with its modern-day name, Greystone Park Psychiatric Center, in 1924. The new reception building, dubbed the Curry Building after Medical Superintendent Marcus Curry, opened in 1928, as well as a new fire station, power plant, greenhouse, and auxiliary buildings. The Men's Occupational Therapy Building opened that same year, allowing for patients to take on new duties in service to the hospital such as tailoring and woodworking. 1929 and 1951 proved to very trying times for Greystone. In the two-year span, three fires severely handicapped the institution's ability to treat the mentally ill. The most devastating of the three fires, on November 26, 1931, was ruled to have originated from faulty electrical wiring on the sixth floor of the center section. Some patients were tied to trees with fireman's ropes to prevent escape after evacuation. The fourth floor north wards were destroyed as well as the central tower. Once rebuilt, the fourth floor in the north wards never matched the rest of the hospital in construction and style again. The state of New Jersey opened the Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital in 1931, and patients were transferred over the next few years down to the new hospital to help with overcrowding issues. However, Greystone officials were faced with a new problem: patients transferred to Marlboro had to pass a series of tests, and often the most able-bodied patients were removed from the campus, leaving older or more seriously ill patients behind. A change in the population began, and there was a shortage of patients capable of work or occupational therapy. Some of this need was filled by working men brought in by the state through the WPA program and other similar programs starting around 1935.

Modern era

late 20th century

The 1970s and 1980s saw a redirection in mental health towards

deinstitutionalization Deinstitutionalisation (or deinstitutionalization) is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community mental health services for those diagnosed with a mental disorder or developmental disability. In the la ...

. States around the country decided that mental health patients were better off living in the home with their families and being treated by the community than staying in removed surroundings in a hospital for a long-term stay. Two factors caused this sudden change. New psychological drugs were able to control patients much more effectively than previous methods ever could, and suddenly dangerous patients were capable of existing in the community in a less harmful state. Secondly, laws were passed in the 1970s forbidding patients to work unless paid fairly, which meant at least minimum wage. Suddenly hospital costs skyrocketed, as patients were no longer able to work in order to defray fees. Due to the landmark Doe vs. Klein case in 1974, Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital was forced to build community homes for patients to provide halfway house type living situations, and adequate staffing and patient care was required of the institution. Twenty "independent living" cottages opened in 1982 and by 1988 all patients had been moved out of living in the main Kirkbride building, and the wings were basically abandoned. Now only the center section was used for administrative purposes. Students of Drew University led an effort to try to get Greystone Park Psychiatric Center listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but were turned down. The Register claimed that the study submitted focused too much on the Kirkbride building, and that they wanted to see the entire hospital system submitted as a National Historic District. However, one student did manage to get the gas house placed on the Register. Greystone had dark years in the 1990s. Patient escapes became commonplace, including some that involved criminals and sex offenders. Staff were accused of abuse and rape, and some female residents became pregnant. Buildings were falling apart and lacking in basic creature comforts. Greystone was in danger of losing its accreditation from the

Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c) organization that accredits more than 22,000 US health care organizations and programs. The international branch accredits medical services from around the world. A majori ...

. If this had happened, the hospital would have lost approximately $35 million annually from Medicaid and Medicare. A Senate task force was appointed to conduct a six-month probe on how to improve conditions, and the hospital was able to pass. The hospital is located on "Koch Avenue", named for Otto Adolf Koch. Otto Koch was a German immigrant who moved to New Jersey before WW1. He was the landscaper and won international acclaim for his florist work. In his honor, the avenue was named after him.

21st century

In 1997, the original tuberculosis pavilion was demolished, along with the morgue, a large garage, the print and tailor shops, and several employee dormitories and cottages. A new era for Greystone had begun, and the state was realizing it did not include many of its decaying antiquated buildings. The State of New Jersey released a report in 1999 stating the behemoth Kirkbride building was "not suitable for long-term future use." The report went on to say that a new smaller building should be built and the hospital consolidated under this structure, and that while older structures should be razed, the main building should be saved due to historical significance.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (née Todd; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration ...

ordered the now 550-bed facility closed within the next three years in 2000. Morris County purchased approximately of the Greystone Park Psychiatric Center property in 2001 for one dollar, with the stipulation that it would clean up asbestos and other environmental hazards on the site within its decaying buildings. When this land was sold, a law was also passed that Greystone land cannot be used for any purpose other than "recreation and conservation, historic preservation or farmland preservation." This meant no commercial development and no condos or townhomes. The major effort to clean up the larger decaying buildings which still stood, and were viewed as eyesores, began in 2005 with the demolition of the dormitory. On September 8, 2005, the New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority closed a $186,565,000 bond issue on behalf of the State of New Jersey Department of Human Services for the completion of a new, Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, still with a shortage of about 75 beds. Ground was ceremonially broken on November 16, 2005, for the new psychiatric hospital on the Greystone campus, located up the hill across the street from the Ellis complex. The new hospital is two-thirds the size of the Kirkbride building and can house about 450 patients, with another 100 patients living in hospital-run cottages on the grounds around the main building. The entire Curry Complex, including the Medical Clinic Building, the Curry Reception Building and the Employee Cafeteria came down in 2007 and 2008. The trio of buildings known as the Ellis Complex were cleared to make way for a parking lot. On July 16, 2008, after countless unexplained delays, patients were moved into the new hospital building. Administration and other departments followed suit. Today, almost all hospital services have relocated to the new complex. Morris County has installed skating rinks and a ball field on its 300-acre share, and plans to incorporate a dog park where the Curry Complex once stood, as well as an athletic complex for disabled athletes. The Central Avenue Complex is planned to become a mall for nonprofit charitable agencies.

The building and the Kirkbride Plan

The original Second Empire Victorian style building was . At the base of this building was the alleged largest continuous foundation in the United States from the time it was built until it was surpassed by

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

when it was constructed in 1943. However, many other Kirkbride asylum buildings (such as the

Athens Lunatic Asylum The Athens Lunatic Asylum, now a mixed-use development known as The Ridges, was a Kirkbride Plan mental hospital operated in Athens, Ohio, from 1874 until 1993. During its operation, the hospital provided services to a variety of patients includi ...

in Ohio) also lay a claim to this fame and it has not been verified which one is true. The building has a characteristic linear arrangement, which was designed to the specifications of 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 si ...

. The main building has a center section that was used for administrative purposes with three wings radiating out from the center, each about long. They were set back from the previous one so that patients could enjoy the beauty of the outside surroundings. This was a central concept, along with moral treatment, that was the hallmark of the Kirkbride Plan for treating the mentally ill. The building form itself was meant to promote treatment and have a curative effect. Each ward was initially set up to accommodate 20 patients. Each was furnished with a dining room, exercise room, and parlor. Most wards had wool rugs that ran the full length of the corridors. Other amenities included Victorian stuffed furniture, pianos, pictures, curtains and fresh flowers. Though not all wards were created equally. Wards that housed the most excitable patients were sparsely furnished – presumably for their own safety – with sturdy oak furniture.

Thomas Story Kirkbride's philosophy

During the time that Greystone was built, the predominant philosophy in psychology was that the mentally ill could be cured or treated, but only if they were in an environment designed to deal with them. A major proponent of this philosophy was

Thomas Story Kirkbride Thomas Story Kirkbride (July 31, 1809December 16, 1883) was a physician, alienist, hospital superintendent for the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital, and primary founder of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institution ...

, who participated in the design phase of the main building at Greystone, though the two main designers were architect Samuel Sloan and Trenton State Asylum Superintendent Horace Buttolph (a friend of Kirkbride's). The building was constructed and furnished according to Kirkbride's philosophy, which proposed housing no more than 250 patients in a three-story building. The rooms were to be light and airy with only two patients to a room. To reduce the likelihood of fires, Greystone and other Kirkbride asylums were constructed using stone, brick, slate and iron, using as little wood as possible. A street on the Greystone Park campus bears Buttolph's name. The Greystone campus itself was once a self-contained community that included staff housing, a post office, fire and police stations, a working farm, and vocational and recreational facilities. It also had its own gas and water utilities and a

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...

quarry, which was the source of the Greystone building material. Below the building, a series of tunnels and rails connect the many sections.

Fate of the historic buildings

By the 2000s, many of the buildings were vacant and needed major repairs. Preservationists had been working for several years to guarantee the survival of this complex of buildings and Morris County had been negotiating with the State of New Jersey to take over vacant structures for non-profit agencies. Citizens of Morris County and surrounding areas formed the

Preserve Greystone The word preserve may refer to: Common uses * Fruit preserves, a type of sweet spread or condiment * Nature reserve, an area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or other special interest, usually protected Arts, entertainment, and media ...

society to save the buildings. After the transition of the hospital's activity to its new location, the remaining property, including the historic Kirkbride building, was turned over to the state's treasurer in October 2007 as excess property with the intention that it would be sold. In the summer of 2008, the Curry building, as well as the surrounding vacant buildings, were demolished. In August 2013, state officials from the

New Jersey Department of the Treasury The mission of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury is to formulate and manage the state's budget, generate and collect revenues, disburse the appropriations used to operate New Jersey state government, manage the state's physical and financia ...

announced plans to demolish the main Kirkbride building. In response to the community preservation group, Preserve Greystone, the Department worked with a consultant who found that redevelopment of the building would be too costly. The following year the state announced the awarding of a $34.4 million demolition bid to Northstar Contracting Group to take down the Kirkbride Building as well as other structures of the old hospital. Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in N ...

announced that the state was not considering a bid by Alma Realty to restore the property at no cost to the state. The plans for the demolition included the designation of an area on the property to memorialize the Kirkbride Building. State officials announced the demolition was scheduled to begin on April 6, 2015 and that work to clean up the site had already begun. Preserve Greystone filed an appeal to halt the demolition which the state court declined to hear. Despite considerable public opposition and open protest and media attention, the main Kirkbride building was demolished in a process that began in April 2015 and was completed by October 2015. However, some items of the stunning architectural details (manifesting unique Victorian motifs) and other items with symbolic and historic value were rescued from the Greystone main building prior to its controversial demolition.

Notable patients

Enoch Bolles Enoch Bolles (3 March 1883 – 16 March 1976) was an American painter of pin-up art. He was among the earliest and most widely circulated glamour illustrators. While known today solely as a pinup artist, Bolles was a versatile illustrator who ...

(1883-1976) Pin-up artist. Suffered mental breakdown due to over work and malnutrition. * Harrison W. Noel (1906-1977) Double murderer. *

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspire ...

(1912-1967) Not committed, but remained there due to Huntington's disease from 1956 to 1961.

Popular culture

The Kirkbride building has been used as a filming location for multiple shows and films, including '' Marvin's Room'' as well as "Mayfield Psychiatric Hospital" in two episodes of the FOX series ''

House, M.D. ''House'' (also called ''House, M.D.'') is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on the Fox network for eight seasons, from November 16, 2004, to May 21, 2012. The series' main character is Dr. Gregory House (Hugh La ...

''.

References

External links

Preserve Greystone

WeirdNJ article on Greystone

Historic photographs of Greystone from The North Jersey History & Genealogy Center's Digital Collections

Greystone Demolition Started
* by WeirdNJTV for Weird US on the History Channel, 2007 * , 2009 * , 2015 {{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1876 Government buildings completed in 1876 Buildings and structures in Morris County, New Jersey Psychiatric hospitals in New Jersey Second Empire architecture in New Jersey Unused buildings in New Jersey Hospitals established in 1876 Defunct hospitals in New Jersey Kirkbride Plan hospitals 1876 establishments in New Jersey Demolished buildings and structures in New Jersey Buildings and structures demolished in 2015