Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center, psychiatric hospital in Bangor, Maine
The Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center is a hospital in Bangor, Maine, serving individuals with serious mental health conditions. The main building dates to the late 1800s and sits on the National Register of Historic Places, with several connected structures spread across roughly 15 acres of ground.
The hospital opened in 1901 as the Eastern Maine Insane Hospital and was renamed Bangor State Hospital in 1913. It became Bangor Mental Health Institute in the early 1970s and finally took its current name in 2005 to honor reformer Dorothea Dix.
The center is named after Dorothea Dix, a reformer who fought for better care in institutions. This naming reflects how the community honors the history of mental health treatment and the dignity of those who sought help here.
The site sits on Bangor's east side between two main roads, with a park nearby offering green space. The location has a quiet, residential character away from busy city streets, making the grounds accessible and easy to walk through for visitors.
Within days of opening in 1901, over one hundred patients arrived from a neighboring facility, showing how quickly the new hospital became a central medical resource. In its early years, patients worked on the grounds and in kitchens as part of treatment, an approach that would shift dramatically when medications arrived in the 1950s.
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