Overview

The Washington Territory's first refuge for the mentally ill was called the "Fort Steilacoom Asylum" and it functioned between 1871 and 1886 in buildings formerly built and occupied by the US Army at Fort Steilacoom. Originally built in 1849 as a military headquarters for campaigns against rebellious Indian tribes following the Whitman Massacre of 1847, the US Army left the fort for good in 1868. For four years, the Territory of Washington contracted with a private management company to run the facility, although this proved unsatisfactory and the Territory took over administration in 1875. The territorial legislature renamed the facility the "Western Washington Hospital for the Insane" on 02/03.1886, and appropriated money to build new facilities on the site in 1886-1887.

Building History

Surplus US Army buildings from the former Fort Steilacoom, in operation as a US Army post from 1849 until 1868, were adaptively reused for an early mental hospital. This was the third asylum for the mentally ill contracted for by the the Washington Territorial Legislature. In 1861, it first arranged to segregate mentally ill residents with the Sisters of Mercy, who operated the Saint John's Lunatic Asylum in Vancouver, WA. By the mid-1860s, some in the legislature advocated moving a mental health facility closer to the territory's emerging population centers around Puget Sound, but progress on this was slow. Patients were housed in Vancouver until 1866, when the legislature contracted with James S. Huntington, Sr., (1800-1872) and one of his four sons of the Cowlitz County town of Monticello, WA, to take over the care of those in need. According to historian Hubert Howe Bancroft, Huntington operated this facility until a serious flood ruined his facilities in 12/1867, at which time, the legislature was again forced to find a solution. (See the Hubert Howe Bancroft, Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Washington, Idaho and Montana, 1845-1889, vol. XXXI, [San Francisco: The History Company, Publishers, 1890], p. 274.) Despite the flood, Huntington and his son kept their end of the bargain, and cared for 21 patients--15 men and 6 women--who were moved from Monticello, WA, to Steilacoom in 08/1871. (This number increased to 23 by 10/1871.)

On 12/02/1869, the Washington Territorial Legislature passed "An Act to Authorize the Purchase of the Government Building at Fort Steilacoom for an Insane Asylum." It provided that "That the Governor of the Territory, the Territorial secretary and Territorial auditor are hereby appointed a board of commissioners to purchase the government buildings at Fort Steilacoom, if the same should be offered for sale by the government of the United States, for the purpose of an insane asylum." The territorial legislature earmarked funds for the acquisition of the buildings "...for the care and custody of insane and idiotic persons, to be prepared and used by them as an insane asylum at the expiration of the present contract [with Huntington on 07/15/1871] for keeping of the insane." (See Laws of Washington, vol. I, [Seattle: Tribune Printing Company, 1895], pp. 15-16.) James Scott, Territorial Secretary, bought the surplus fort property on 01/15/1870 for $850, and, following renovation, the asylum opened on 08/19/1871. Although they had been used for the asylum for three years already, the US Congress officially donated the land to the territory on 04/15/1874. (See the Tacoma-Pierce County Buildings Index, "Fort Steilacoom Asylum," accessed 09/06/2017.) The Puget Sound Company had made claims to some of the lands on which the asylum was operating, and this dispute was not settled until 03/1873. (See the Hubert Howe Bancroft, Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Washington, Idaho and Montana, 1845-1889, vol. XXXI, [San Francisco: The History Company, Publishers, 1890], p. 274.)

The Asylum Projects.org has described the architectural surroundings patients encountered in 1871. It wrote: "From a report of the contractor to the Governor of Washington Territory, dated September 30, 1871, it was learned that the asylum building was 152 feet long and 54 feet wide, and was divided into two wards, one for males and one for females. The male ward was 96 feet long and 44 feet wide, containing a central hall and 20 rooms, 10 on each side. Under the same roof was a bathroom supplied with hot and cold water, a water closet and wardrobe. The central hall was 96 feet long and 14 feet wide, having one large window at each end and two skylights. On each side of this hall were 10 rooms, each 18 feet in length by 9 feet in width. These rooms, together with the central hall, accommodated about 40 patients. The female ward was 56 feet long and 44 feet wide, with a central hall and 10 rooms, five on each side. Attached to it was a bathroom similar to that on the male ward. The central hall was 56 feet long and 14 feet wide, having five rooms on each side, 18 feet in length by 9 feet in width. These rooms, together with the central hall, accommodated about 20 patients. All windows in the building were secured by iron rods. On the north side was a porch 128 feet long and 10 feet wide, enclosed by lattice-work. At the east end of the building was an airing court, containing about two-thirds of an acre and enclosed by a board fence 14 feet high. The building was heated by two large box stoves, with sheet-iron drums attached, one in the male ward and one in the female ward. The building containing the kitchen and dining room was 60 feet long and 32 feet wide, and was joined to the central building, forming a south wing. There were separate dining rooms for male and female patients, respectively, and a small room for the superintendent and employees. The water supply was obtained from a spring 2000 feet distant from the asylum, being forced by a ram to a brick tank with a capacity of 6000 gallons." (See the Asylum Projects.org, "Tacoma State Hospital," accessed 09/06/2017.) As noted in the report, the original Fort Steilacoom accommodations had an original capacity of 60 people, a number that would be rapidly surpassed.

When the Fort Steilacoom facility began operations in 08/1871, the territorial legislature made a deal with an Olympia hotel keeper named Hill Harmon (born c. 1823 in Maine) to care for the patients for five years, but, due to charges of mismanagement by the Medical Society of Washington Territory, the legislature was forced to exert governmental control of the asylum by 1876. According to the Western State Hospital's web site, "The period between 1871 and 1875 was very difficult for the new hospital. A local businessman had contracted with the legislature to look after the daily needs of the patients. At the same time, a resident physician was hired to provide psychiatric treatment and medical care. Unfortunately, patient neglect became so bad at the hands of the businessman contractor, that the Medical Society of the Washington Territory had to intervene. The Medical Society was instrumental in influencing the legislature to abandon the dual-management system and to place total care of the patients with a medical superintendent." (See Western State Hospital, "History of Western State Hospital," accessed 09/05/2017.) According to terms of the contract with Harmon, he had control over patient welfare, not medical authorities. Under territorial government control, supervisory authority over patients was ceded to its new chief medical officer, Dr. Rufus Willard (c. 1836-1905), who took over on 06/01/1877.

Despite its problems, the Washington Territory's needs for a mental health hospital steadily climbed after 1875. In 1877, the Fort Steilacoom Asylum had increased its capacity to 67 patients, housed on a 25-acre farm planted with 300 fruit trees. State appropriations for the facility totaled a meager $52,325 in 1879, but additional land was obtained bringing the total acreage to 600 in 1883. (See the Hubert Howe Bancroft, Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Washington, Idaho and Montana, 1845-1889, vol. XXXI, [San Francisco: The History Company, Publishers, 1890], p. 274.) Patient numbers rose to 129 in 1883, and these inmates resided within a self-sufficient working farm, with dairy cattle, hogs and chickens, and crops. By 1885, the number of patients had ballooned to 238, of whom 12 died, or 5.04% of the total. Despite the hospital's less than sterling reputation for care, this was lower than the national average of 6.39% of deaths per the total patient numbers. (See Appendix to Journals of Senate and Assemby of the Legislature of the State of Nevada, 1887, [Carson City, NV: State Printing Office, 1887], p. 47.) By the mid-1880s, the increasing number of patients forced the legislature to consider, once again, funding provisions for new buildings at Steilacoom. As a result, all but four of these old surplus US Army buildings were torn down in 1886 and replaced by new facilities at the end of the following year, on 12/12/1887. The only remaining Fort Steilacoom buildings to have remained were officers' quarters.

Alteration

It is likely that alterations were made to accommodate rapidly growing numbers of patients between 1871 and 1886.

Demolition

The Fort Steilacoom Asylum's original military buildings were demolished in 1886.

PCAD id: 21454