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Overview

During World War II, the US Government's War Department obtained 284 acres in Placer County, CA, 227 acres purchased and 57 additional acres leased on two leases. As a US Army facility during 1944 and 1945, it had the capability of treating2,285 patients, although this was exceeded slightly by 08/1945, at the war's end. The site, as a military facility, contained 700 permanent buildings and 246 demountable "theatre of operations" buildings. For a short time, from06/12/1945 until 03/01/1946,a portion of the Dewitt General Hospital served as a prisoner of war camp. It was named for Brigadier General Calvin Dewitt (1840-1908), who served in the US Army Medical Corps from 1863 until 1903. Its ownership transferred to the State of California for 25 years, from 1947 until 1972, when its was deactivated as a state psychiatric hospital and given to Placer County for public use.

Many of the hospital's World War II-era buildings have seen continuous use by Placer County to the present.

Building History

The US Government's War Department decided on purchasing former orchard land near Auburn, CA, for use as a military hospital on 03/25/1943. It initially named the complex the "Auburn General Hospital" on 08/15/1943 and amended the name to "Dewitt General Hospital" on 08/24/1943. At first, construction was to have been completed by 11/15/1943, but actually occurred on 02/27/1944 at a total cost of$5,433,718.The hospital's mission was to treat war casualties (mostly from the Pacific theatre) and injuries sustained at three regular army bases, Camp Beale, Camp Kohler, McClellan Field, and the Sierra Ordnance Depot, as well as three US Army Air Forces (USAAF) bases, Reno Army Air Base, Chico Army Air Field, and the largest, McClellan Field near Sacramento. At its busiest period, on 08/30/1945, Dewitt General had 2,310 patients.

After the war, the War Department declared Dewitt General Hospital to be unnecessary and the War Assets Administration (WAA) took control of the property from 06/24/1946 until 03/15/1947, when it was transferred to the State of California. The WAA set four criteria for the property transfer. First, for 25 years thereafter it had to be used as a mental health hospital. Second, the state could not sell or lease the property within 25 years for any purpose not agreed upon by the WAA or its successor authority. Third, the state had certain reports that had to be made to the WAA to insure that the land was being used as a mental hospital. Fourth, if these criteria weren't met, steps were spelled out to revoke the transfer and return ownership to the WAA.

The State of Calfiornia first opened the Dewitt State Hospital to "mentally ill" and "mentally deficient" patients who could not be accommodated at other state facilities in 1947, but it did not become a "permanent" state facility until 07/1950. At this time, it began the intake of patients from six surrounding counties, Sutter, Yuba, Modoc, Lassen, Sierra, Placer, and El Dorado. It reached beyond its peak capacity by 1960, when it housed 2,800 people. By the mid-1960s, changes in laws applicable to committing and holding people in mental institutions caused the poplulation of many large state hospitals to decrease. The State closed Dewitt State Hospital in 1972, after 25 years of service. After this time period, the California Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Surplus Property Utilization, permanently transferred ownership of the land to the County of Placer, to be supervised by its Board of Supervisors, with the stipulation that if it was not used for public purposes, ownership would revert to the state. Placer County located its governmental administration center, known as the "DeWitt Government Center," at the site. Additionally, the Placer County Jail and Juvenile Detention Facility were located here. (See Dan Sebby, "Historic California Posts, Camps, Stations and Airfields: DeWitt General Hospital (Auburn General Hospital)," accessed 08/08/2016.)

Building Notes

The military base consisted of four parallel lines of joined, one-story barracks buildings, most 285 feet by 30 feet in dimension. Perpindicular corridor spines connected each long, low wing. At the center of the base, a cluster of larger buildings was built. Additionally, two sections of buildings projected off the main grid. One was a group of three buildings appended to the base's northwest corner (on land now occupied by the Placer County Assesspr's Office, Tax Collector's Office and Community Center). The other was a diagonal succession of five sizeable buildings jutted out to the south. These buildings still existed in 2016, and were located at 2725 3rd Street (one building) and four buildings at 1142 E Avenue. This latter diagonal configuration, like all buildings on site, was linked by a central corridor axis.

Remarkably, most of the original camp buildings remained in 2016, although significantly altered in most cases. In the parcel bounded by C Avenue, Rustic Lane, B Avenue and Richardson Drive, five of eight buildings were removed. A cluster of four buildings was removed in a site northwest of B Avenue, bounded by asphalt parking lots for the Assessor, Tax Collector and Community Center Parking lots. Five of six buildings were torn down on a site bounded by D Avenue, Richardson Drive, C Avenue and the building at 11490 C Avenue. Two buildings remained of the six-and-a-half long, low dormitory buildings built on the parcel enclosed by D Avenue, C Avenue, 1st Street and 2nd Street.

Archival information on the Dewitt State Hospital can be found in the California State Archives, in the California Department of Mental Hygiene --DeWitt State Hospital Records.

PCAD id: 20424