Out west on Arsenal Street Road, even further west than Kingshighway, was a cluster of buildings that any county with a sizeable population would have possessed in the Nineteenth Century: a poor house and “lunatic asylum.” St. Louis also had a home for prostitutes which morphed into an institution where society interned “difficult women.” The site for these services was probably chosen because of the elevation, located at one of the highest points in the county, and located along several preexisting roads. Good ventilation was then considered good for health (not breathing in coal smoke for decades is indeed, good for your health, though of course they later installed a coal power plant just to the south of the hospital buildings).
We’ll look at the Insane Asylum first, which is the most prominent of the buildings and the largest to survive from the 1860s. It’s changed names over the years, and is now known as the Forensic Treatment Center.
Built in 1869, it is perhaps most famous for the prominent dome designed by Charles Rumbold, who also designed the dome of the Old Courthouse.
Even still in 1903, it was out in the middle of the country, though there were brickyards in the area, as well as the rail line that went close to the complex. Note that in the Sanborn map the main classical portico had not been constructed yet, and also visible in the photo below. Note that there was even a dance pavilion on the grounds.
Originally, columns similar to the ones below, severely eroded by acid rain would have been present on the front. The whole building would have borne a strong resemblance to the second Mullanphy Hospital.
The portico was added when the two long Kirkbride-style wings were built. They were demolished in two stages in the last several decades. The main building was saved for now.
The two wings are left free of their later additions.
Small reminders of the later additions survive. For example, on the south side, in the middle, are large windows of hallways added in the middle block to facilitate movement between the two halves of the once-much larger building.
And the additional masonry below caps the former hallways that led to the wings added in the early Twentieth Century.
The interior has been heavily altered, but one space that is still relatively intact is an old service hallway. Sadly, all sorts of stories have developed over the years that this was a medieval-like prison where patients were chained to the walls. This is not true.
The supposed proof of manacles hanging from the ceiling are obviously brackets for pipes, and are present throughout the ceiling of the space. Likewise, there is a row of these brackets, from a pipe that has been removed, that run parallel to each other the whole length of the hallway.
We do have some photographs of what patient spaces were like, such as the one below. Treatment of patients was far from perfect, but it was dramatically better than it had been throughout the world for centuries before.
There were two large cisterns, seen below, due to the high elevation of the hospital and the necessity of pumping water up to the complex.
The power plant, I was told, operated until 1990, which is crazy.
By the turn of the new decade of the 1930s, development was just starting to creep out in the direction of the complex to the south.
Let’s look at the roof and the dome again. There are a series of large rooms up in the eaves; note that the concrete floor, added during the WPA days of the 1930s, is lower than the original wood floor truss originals.
For ventilation, there were circular portals, which are now filled in with brick.
Through a doorway, there is a view of the roof trusses.
The dome is extremely heavy, and lacking modern steel skeleton construction methods, it sits on a massive brick masonry drum that stretches downward all the way to the basement; here it is just below the roofline.
There was once an elaborate grand staircase that lead up to the dome, and this doorway is the last remnant of that original element.
The staircase up into the drum of the dome is a work of art in its own right, originally self-supporting around a single column in the middle. Due to concern about its stability, steel guy wires have been added.
Hawks (or eagles) now nest on the south side of the drum and I was able to snap a picture of one of two that were flying around the heights of the building
I’ve long been interested in this history, so thank you for detailing this. As for the bird, given that eagles are fish-eaters who nest close to water, it’s likely a hawk – and there’s a good chance it’s our most common one, the red-tailed hawk. In my neighborhood, we spotted one carrying nesting material to a tree. It’s definitely time for them to build or refresh nests and get on with family-making.
I never realized the ugly buildins “wings” were attached to this building.
I remember the two wings that were demolished. You can find one of the cupolas in the outside portion at the City Museum! I also remember there being a 1960s style building blocking the main entrance facing Arsenal St.
I grew up in the area and we were not allowed to play outside when there was word that an escapee was on the loose!
I have to admit I don’t have very strong memories of the place up close–maybe only went by once or twice before the massive demolitions began. I wish I had better photos of the pre-demolition complex.
Hi, Chris, although I’ve enjoyed your posts for years, it never occurred to me to comment on any…until recently. A few weeks ago I revisited your piece on St. Louis ash pits and told the story of my great grandmother putting out apples for the ash man’s horse. Now I have a different kind of offering, which may be controversial to some. In the article about St. Louis State Hospital, there was a comment to the effect that the presence of shackles for inmates was a myth. Not entirely true, however. In 1962, I graduated from old St. John,s Hospital School of Nursing (originally on Euclid Ave. Our student dorm faced Kingshighway and Forest Park.) As students, we had to do a 3 mo. psych rotation at “The San” or “Arsenal St.” as many called it. After graduation, I worked as a staff RN there for one year. During our down time after class/work hours, some of us students went prowling around in the basement. We found a few crude ‘rooms’, just cement, really, with heavy metal rings anchored into the walls. There were no doors. We presumed them to be seclusion rooms for severely disturbed and out of control patients. There were also some narrow gauge tracks with small carts on them. I have no idea what they were. Of course, none of us asked anyone in authority about any of it because we weren’t supposed to be there! I believe I probably made a foray down there again when I was employed there. In the 1980s, I was working in a state hospital in Indiana and went ‘exploring’ its tunnel system. Sure enough, the place had very similar spaces. But, back to St. Louis State Hospital. I have lived away from St. Louis since the mid 60s, but have been back many times. On one of my visits, I took a notion to search out those ‘dungeons’, as I though of them and find them I did. The details of how I found them are a bit sketchy, because through the years, more and more of the hospital structure has disappeared. On the first visit there, probably in the 1990s, I recall entering the central, dome building and descending stairs from the right. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a hallway, well-lit to the left, but dark to the right, which is where I found two rooms. I will always rue the fact that I did not bring my camera that day to record the rooms’ existence. I didn’t stay long because the sound of voices down the hall made it obvious that offices of some sort were down there. I do remember, timewise, that some of the very farthest wings, with rounded dayrooms at their ends ,were being torn down, one of which I had worked on. The next time I tried to search, armed with a camera, wasn’t a particularly planned event. I was at the top of Compton Tower on a weekend. The views from there were spectacular and various visitors were commenting on what they were seeing. One young woman spied the State Hospital and exclaimed, “oh I was there, on K ward, and there were dungeons in the basement?” Bingo! I knew where I was going next. Unfortunately, I failed in my endeavor. Wherever that stairway I had previously used was, I couldn’t find it. I did find an elevator. The elevator door faced the front of the building, but the exit door in the basement was not facing in the same direction. When I got out there was just a very well lit open concrete floored space. There was an area very heavily fenced off and nothing down there looked familiar. I had the feeling that if the elevator had opened in a different direction, I would have found what I knew was down there somewhere. I was disappointed but I knew at some point that I would give it one more try. So, last year, while in St. Louis, I went there on a weekday. Alas, the front (and I assume all) doors is now electronically locked. So, as far as I know my adventuring there is over…maybe. I am very nostalgic about any things, as well as nosy and stubborn. If there’s a ‘no trespassing’ sign, there I’ll be. (There are also ‘sub ‘basements in that place which add to the overall mystique.) I know that you can go on tours of State Hosp., but unless they take me to the basement, I’m not interested. Maybe some day, somehow, I’ll have another chance. I’m only 83, so wish me luck!
Interesting! Thanks for the memories!
I was so excited to find this site on the internet. I have six old photos (sepia tone) mounted on black photo board. One is of the building itself shortly after being built. The other four are pictures taken outside of men and women (women all wearing nursing garments) probably staff. The last photo is showing a hallway inside the building with standing in the doorways to rooms. These photos belonged to my grandmother. She and her two sisters all worked there and at some point she met my grandfather a doctor who was in charge of the infirmary. My father was born and grew up at the asylum. Great conversation piece. I want to somehow get a new home for these photos. Will someone please contact me????
Hello,
I’m the archivist for Forensic Treatment Center (the Dome Building). I’d love to add your photos (and the story behind them!) to our archive. If you’re still interested, feel free to reach out to me – my contact information is available on our website: https://cdm17484.contentdm.oclc.org/.
Hello, just found your email today (12/14/24) in my spam folder. Yes, I did send out some emails about these photos. Because I live in Florida where I have very little space, I wanted to be able to not just throw them out after I scanned them for my on personal use in genealogy. I sent them early this year to an archivist. I think it was to an archivist for the state of Missouri at the state archives (I think) or possibly for an archivist for the city of St. Louise. Now I can’t find any of the emails I had with that woman in order to be more specific. Wouldn’t you know.
My great grandfather, Ernest Radcliff was the medical doctor in the infirmary at one time and his wife Caroline Kemme, who he married while working there was a nurse (“charge nurse” I think) at the Lunatic Asylum in the infirmary as well. Her two sisters also worked there. I never met my grandfather. He died when I was about 2 years old. My grandmother Caroline (nick name Carrie) after his death sold her home and used the money from the sale of her home to give my father Emmet Radcliff the money for down payment on a home in return for the ability to come and live with them. My father told me stories as I was growing up about his time living on the grounds and playing with the “residents” living there. Because I was young it never occurred to me to ask if they were adults or children. I remember him telling me one time (true or not) about how the “residents” weren’t all as crazy as you might think when one was able to tell a man on the other side of the fence how he could still change the tire on his car despite the fact that he had lost one nut.
The time period when they worked and lived there would have been around1918 – 1924.
I’m so glad you were able to find a good home for the photos! The State Archives will take great care of them.
That’s a lovely story. It’s really interesting to hear how all of the various connections and experiences at the Asylum led to so many different outcomes. Thank you for sharing your family’s story!
is there anyway i could interview you about the insane asylum for a school project or anybody you could put me in contact with
Email me at naffziger (at) gmail (dot) com.
I have always wanted to tour the asylum, as I had 2 relatives whom were residents there. I also a few years ago, moving back to the city, joined the y which I understand was originally grounds for one of the wings. Do they have tours??
Yes, they do offer tour occasionally.
Hi Rose,
I do the tours at the Asylum. My contact information is available on our website (https://cdm17484.contentdm.oclc.org/) – just look under “tours” on our home page.
Andrea