The Elgin Mental Health Center is a mental health facility operated by the State of Illinois in Elgin, Illinois. Although during its history, its mission has changed, at times it treated mental illness, tuberculosis, and provided federally funded care for veterans. The hospital's site, which included a patient-staffed farm reached a maximum of after World War II.HistoryIllinois' first mental hospital opened in Jacksonville, Illinois in 1851, but the need for two more hospitals serving Northern and Southern Illinois became apparent. The legislature authorized the two new hospitals on April 16, 1869, and set up a committee to select a site for the Northern Illinois hospital. To gain this important source of future employment, the City of Elgin sold more than $40,000 worth of bonds to purchase of land south of the city limits and also promised to provide free freight to the site for building materials. After the site was selected, a Board of Trustees, primarily consisting of prominent Elgin residents, was appointed to construct and run the new hospital. The Trustees followed the recommendations of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (AMSAII), in terms of the amount of land required and also by adopting the Kirkbride Plan for the Central Building. Colonel S.V. Shipman, who had designed the main building of the Mendota, Wisconsin state hospital, was selected as the architect of the Elgin building. The front expanse of the Center Building was 1086ft and was designed to be narrow in order to offer natural light and ventilation. The building was used until it was demolished in 1993.
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