April 13 1868   Act 49 is passed and the "State Hospital for the Insane, at Danville" is established.
October 26, 1868   Plans developed by Architect John McArthur Jr. are approved by the Governor.
August 26, 1869   The cornerstone of the Main Building is laid.
1870   The Boiler House and Washhouse are completed.
October 18, 1872   The hospital is opened.
November 6, 1872   The first patient arrives at the hospital.
September 30, 1873   The patient population was 210.
December 3, 1873   The Board of Trustees assumed control and ownership of the hospital from the building commissioners.
October 1880   All building according to the original plan were built. A total of 22 buildings were built, improvements are made to water and sewer systems.
March 5, 1881   A large fire destroys the majority of the Main Building.
1882   A telegraph system is installed.
1883   The patient population is 300.
1884   The reconstruction of the administration section of the Main Building is completed, a 600 seat amusement hall is constructed on the fourth floor.
1885   A well was sunk.
October 1886   Reconstruction of the entire Main Building is completed. Some alterations and many improvements have been made to the building.
1887   The Training School for Attendants is established.
1889   Brick walls are erected around the airing courts and an iron fence was erected around the property. Systematic lasses for attendants were started at the new school.
1890   The rivers becomes contaminated as a result of discharging hospital sewage directly into the river. 3,368 yards of pipe are laid to extend the discharge pipe to a "safe point" below the town.
1891   Additional land is purchased. Hospital land now totals 570 acres.
1892   The patient population was 800.
1893   The first class of 16 attendants graduates from the new Training School for Attendants.
April 11, 1895   The first female physician is appointed to the hospital staff, Dr. Alice Palmer.
September 1896   A fire destroys the main barn.
1896   Water lines are extended to the farm and fire hydrants are installed. The hospital fire department receives its first motorized piece of fire apparatus.
1896   The first floor of the new Infirmary Building is occupied.
1898   Welspach lights are installed, replacing the open gas jet lights.
1900   Edgewood, the female nurses home, is opened. Telephone service is established.
1904   A water filtration and sewage plant are built.
1906   All buildings are wired with electricity. New electric lights are installed. 1,300 white enamel beds are purchased for patients, 125 are purchased for the staff.
1907   A fourth floor is added to the Block Building.
1908   Male and female acute buildings are contracted. The new buildings have hydrotherapy equipment in the basement.
1909-1910   A new larger sewage plant is constructed. Now able to treat sewage with chloride of lime.
1910-1912   The cold storage and refrigerating plants are improved.
1912-1914   The industrial building for male patients is constructed. The incineration plants and garage are also built.
1914   The industrial building for women opens.
1915   Typhoid Fever breaks out at the hospital, and 15 deaths occur. 195 cattle and 164 swine are killed due to Aphthous Fever.
1916   A moving picture machine is purchased through the efforts of Mrs. Meredith (wife of Dr. Meredith)
1916   A laboratory is organized.
1918   The first section of the Male Industrial Building is destroyed by fire.
1918   Due to World War 1 female nurses are used to cover vacancies in the male wards.
March 1920   Immunizations of all patients and staff against Typhoid Fever takes place.
January 15, 1921   The Department of Community Services is created.
1921   The Mental Health Bulletin is launched.
1922-1924   The Occupational Therapy Department is established.
1924-1927   Swimming pools, tennis courts, and a baseball field are constructed.
1928   A new power plant is constructed.
1928-1930   The kitchen is upgraded and modern electrical equipment is installed. Drinking fountains are installed and the radio is made available in patient areas. A Tuberculosis building for male patients is constructed, but due to over crowding it was used to house female patients.
1932   The moving picture machine was replaced with a "sound film machine".
1934   The Diagnostic Clinic Building opened.
1936   The hospital began restricting new patient admissions due to over crowding
1937   A fire destroyed a large portion of the laundry.
1937   Steel fire escapes are installed, smoke break partitions are constructed, fire proof doors are installed, and four fire towers are erected. A new fire alarm system was also installed.
1938   The laundry is reconstructed. The pumping station is modernized.
June 1, 1938   Insulin Shock Therapy is introduced.
1941   The Hospital Building is opened.
August 1943   Electro shock Therapy is introduced.
1944   War conditions limited the number of physicians at the hospital to only 6, compared to the normal number of 13.
1945   The horse barn caught on fire, 15 animals and all the equipment was destroyed.
1947   The patient population reaches 2,918. The horse barn is reconstructed.
1948-1949   Additional electro shock treatment machines are purchased. 14,229 individual treatment have been given.
1949   A turkey pen is built.
1950   Terrance Nurses Home is opened as well as a new Dietary Building.
1951   An employee cafeteria is opened.
1952   The Admissions building is opened. The Female Maximum Security Building is opened (Reed).
1953   A 600 seat patient cafeteria is opened. A new auditorium and gymnasium is also opened.
1950-1952   Common patient treatments included hydrotherapy, massage, and actintherapy.
1954   A dial telephone system is installed. Tranquilizing drugs are introduced, as a result electro shock therapy treatments are used less often.
1955   Hydrotherapy is used less often. The old laboratory is demolished. The patient population is 2,801.
1956   Walls and fences are removed from the "airing courts" and court yards. 237 patients now had ground privileges, compared to only 40 in 1954. Use of the library also increased.
1957   Parcels of hospital land that was no longer needed were sold off. All fences and walls surrounding the hospital are removed.
1958   The alcoholic and adolescent units are opened.
1961   The patient population is 2,400 with 856 staff employees.
1964   Fire destroys the dairy barns and five silos.
1965   The hospital is connected to the city sewage system.
1966   The Men's Geriatric Building is closed due to "deplorable" conditions. Screening of patients over 60 was implemented and efforts were made to find an alternative facility for elderly patients.
1967   The dairy barns are rebuilt on a new site.
1969   Farming is discontinued at the hospital due to the "Institutional Peonage Abolishment Act". The patient population begins to decline significantly. The hospital now only houses 1,872 patients.
1972   Sections of the South Geriatrics is renovated and a new wing is opened.
1973   The use of restraints, seclusion, and therapeutic packs is discontinued.
December 1973   The industrial therapy program is discontinued.
1974   The adolescent unit is closed. The Joint Commission declined accreditation to the hospital due to the lack of sufficient medical staff and space conditions.
1977   The first non-medical acting superintendent is appointed. Medicare certifications are met. Because of a large decrease in the patient population the following buildings are vacated: Curwin, Green, Oakwood, Edgewood, Edgehill, and Kirkbride.
May 1979   The patient population is 755.
1980   Kirkbride is reopened as part of a long term care facility. The PA Department of Agriculture now controls the hospital farm.
1983   The Reed Building is converted to ICF as part of the long term care facility.
September 1984   The patient population is 660.
1985   Several vacant buildings at the rear of the hospital property are demolished. A three year accreditation is granted to the hospital by the Joint Commission.
January 1992   The patient population is 456 with 651 employees.
January 2008   The patient population is 163. Renovations to the Main Building begin, including new stucco applied to the exterior of the wards. New drop ceilings and tile floors are installed inside the building. All patients now live in the Main Building.
     

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