Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, former hospital in New York, United States
Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane was a psychiatric hospital in Dutchess County, New York, opened in 1892 and closed in 1977. The facility contained patient wards, administrative buildings, extensive farmland, and residential quarters for staff and patients across rural grounds near Beacon.
The hospital was founded in 1892 as a relocation from Auburn and was designed to treat patients considered both criminal and mentally ill. It gained prominence treating notable cases like Harry Thaw and George Metesky before closing in 1977 and later becoming part of Fishkill Correctional Facility.
The hospital practiced moral therapy, an approach combining gentle care, regular routines, and practical work like cooking and crafts to help patients. This method shaped daily life on the grounds and reflected beliefs about treatment through meaningful activity and structure.
The site is located in rural Dutchess County near Beacon and is not open to the general public since the Fishkill Correctional Facility now occupies the grounds. Permission is required to visit the cemetery or remaining structures, and the property is accessible only by special arrangement.
In 1906, a female attendant named Nellie Wicks was killed by an inmate, marking the first death of a woman law officer in the line of duty in the US. This tragic incident became a notable moment in the hospital's history and American law enforcement records.
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