Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
Weston State Hospital | |
The Hospital's main building in 2006 | |
| Location | Asylum Drive, Weston, West Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 39°02′19″N 80°28′17″W / 39.03861°N 80.47139°W |
| Area | 26.5 acres (10.7 ha) |
| Built | Constructed 1858–1881. Opened to patients 1864. |
| Architect | Richard Snowden Andrews |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival Tudor Revival Kirkbride Plan Jacobean Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 78002805 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 19, 1978 |
| Designated NHL | June 21, 1990 |
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was a psychiatric hospital located in Weston, West Virginia, and known by other names, such as West Virginia Hospital for the Insane and Weston State Hospital. The asylum was open to patients from October 1864 until May 1994. After its closure, patients were moved to the new William R. Sharpe, Jr. Hospital in Weston, named after William R. Sharpe Jr., a member of the West Virginia Senate. The hospital reopened as a tourist location in March 2008.
Utilizing the Kirkbride Plan, the hospital was designed by architect Richard Snowden Andrews of Baltimore, Maryland. Construction of the hospital started in 1858 but was not completed until 1881. Originally designed to accommodate 250 patients, it became overcrowded in the 1950s with 2,400 patients. The asylum was sold at auction in 2007 and is open for tours and other events to raise money for its restoration. The main building of the hospital is said to be one of the largest hand-cut stonemasonry buildings in the United States and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990.