Asylums

Kirkbride palaces and why admissions soared

Hidden history

What the record shows

In the second half of the 1800s, nearly every state put up a huge asylum, many on Dr. Thomas Kirkbride's plan: a towered center with wings stepping back on each side. They are some of the biggest buildings of their time. Who filled them, and why did it happen so fast?

Built for hundreds, filled with thousands
Trans-Allegheny was designed for 250 people and held more than 2,400. Hudson River, Danvers and Buffalo tell a similar story.
One plan, everywhere
The same staggered layout went up from Massachusetts to Michigan to West Virginia, in stone and brick, with towers and tunnels.
Taking the parents
Research episodes ask how easily adults could be committed, and whether the asylums and the orphanages were two parts of one system.