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Massillon
state Hospital for the Insane opened in 1898. In 1950, it had 3,000
residents. As of early 2000, there were less than 300 residents.
The first building to be constructed was a water tower to put out
fires on the hospital grounds. A trolly ran from the city of Massillon
to the Massillon State Hospital.
The land the hospital is located on was originally cornfields used
by Native Americans. Settler James Duncan arrived here in 1816 and
grazed sheep on the land. Duncan's original cottage was used as
a dwelling until 1956. At the suggestion of Ohio governor William
McKinley (later the president), 240 acres of this land was given
to the State for the purposes of founding the hospital.
Massillon
State Hospital was started at the time when "cottage"
design of mental hospitals dominated, as opposed to the previous
era's immense main buildings designed on the "Kirkbride"
plan.
Massillon
is located in the northeastern portion of Ohio in Stark County,
on the Tuscarawas River, 50 miles south of Cleveland.
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