View source for Mayview State Hospital

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox hospital
| name = Mayview State Hospital
| image = 1006 Mayview02.jpg
| caption = Mayview State Hospital
| location = [[South Fayette|South Fayette Township]]
| region = Allegheny County
| state = Pennsylvania
| country = US
| type = Specialist
| speciality = [[Psychiatric hospital]]
| emergency = None
| founded = 1893
| closed = 2008
| demolished = 2016
| former-names = Marshalsea Poor Farm
| website = <!-- 'None' or http URL -->
| Wiki-Links = <!-- optional -->
}}
'''Mayview State Hospital''' was a [[psychiatric hospital]], originally known as '''Marshalsea Poor Farm''', located in [[South Fayette|South Fayette Township]] near [[Bridgeville, Pennsylvania]]. It spanned {{convert|335|acre}} and had 39 buildings, 12 of which were used for patient care and hospital administration. It had a staff count of approximately 502 as of August 2007, and an operating budget of $63 million per year.
It was demolished in 2016 to build residential housing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2016/10/14/mayview-hospital-property-to-be-reborn-as-unique-neighborhood/ |title=Mayview Hospital Property to be Reborn as Unique Neighborhood |date=14 October 2016}}</ref>

==History==
Mayview State Hospital was opened in 1893 by the City of Pittsburgh under the name [[Marshalsea]], after the famous London debtors' prison where Charles Dickens' father was once held. The campus size was {{convert|243|acre}} at the time. In the 1890s, there were about 340 patients.

In 1897, [[Elise Mercur]] was hired to design a children's hospital for the facility, as there was no separate building for sick children. Until that time, children were admitted to the women's dormitory.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=New Children's Building |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3335976/new_childrens_building_pittsburgh/ |access-date=2 October 2015 |publisher=[[The Pittsburgh Post]] |date=8 September 1897 |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{open access}}</ref>

A night fire on July 31, 1907 that started by an overheated boiler in the laundry and bakehouse area, swept through the Poor Farm and Asylum, housing 900 patients. The entire annex was ablaze when the first alarm was sounded, and fire-brigade worked with the limited supply of hose and water, while attendants began removing patients on their cots. During the panic caused by the fire, many patients were injured. A heavy downpour of rain was of great assistance in controlling the fire which raged for three hours, till 1 o'clock a. m. The property loss was between $75,000 and $100,000.<ref>{{cite news |title=Buildings Saved Only After Hard and Fierce Fight |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51737171/pittsburgh-daily-post/ |access-date=20 May 2020 |date=1 August 1907 |newspaper=[[The Pittsburgh Post]] |location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51737171/pittsburgh-daily-post/ 1] - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51737600/pittsburgh-daily-post/ 2] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> According to the Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh, the Poor Farm property was appropriated in 1913.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WngzAQAAMAAJ&q=Marshalsea+Poor+Farm&pg=RA2-PA64 |title=Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh |last=Council |first=Pittsburgh (Pa ) |date=1913 |language=en}}</ref> In 1917, Engineering News announced bids would be requested for construction on the property for use by a coal mine which fed a power plant that produced steam for heat and electricity .<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RWhJAQAAIAAJ&q=Marshalsea+Poor+Farm&pg=PA670 |title=Engineering News-record |date=1917 |publisher=McGraw-Hill Publishing Company |language=en}}</ref>

In 1916, Marshalsea was renamed Pittsburgh City Home and Hospital at Mayview.

By 1934, there were 4,200 patients and 450 staff at Mayview.

On June 1, 1941, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania took over responsibility for the hospital. There were 3,200 patients at that time.

In 1946, an observation unit was created. In 1974, it became the forensic center.

In 2001, [[Kevin Benson]] served as the [[Grand Marshal]] of the hospital's annual parade.<ref>{{cite news |title=Recreation |newspaper=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=May 9, 2001 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0HUxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bXADAAAAIBAJ&pg=5585,6441438}}</ref>

==Closure==
On August 15, 2007, it was announced that the civil section of Mayview would be closed by December 31, 2008. The patient census for civil was then 225.<ref>[http://www.mayview-sap.org/documents/misc/rls-DPW-mayviewfinal-081507.pdf "Mayview Closure Announcement"]</ref> The patients at that time were to be individually assessed then discharged into less restrictive, community-based settings "to reduce reliance on institutional care and improve access to home and community-based services for Pennsylvanians living with mental illness." Those who were assessed as needing continuing treatment were transferred to another state hospital.<ref name="closurefaqs">[http://www.mayview-sap.org/documents/misc/Mayview%20Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20FINAL%2081507.pdf "Mayview Closure FAQs"]</ref>

Concurrent with the closing, the facility's forensic center was to be either consolidated and/or privatized with other forensic units at Norristown and Warren State Hospitals. As of August 2007, there were 70 patients in the forensic center at Mayview.<ref name="closurefaqs"/>

The closure was halted for two weeks in November 2007 after the deaths of two former Mayview patients. One jumped or fell from a bridge and the other was struck by a train.<ref>[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07323/835050-85.stm "Mayview suspends downsizing in wake of ex-patient's death"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', November 19, 2007</ref><ref>[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07327/836090-55.stm "Mayview resumes discharges after moratorium"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', November 23, 2007</ref>

On February 21, 2008, a task force met at Mayview to discuss possible uses for the site after the hospital's closing.<ref>[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08052/858950-57.stm "Reusing Mayview property"], ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', February 21, 2008</ref>

In November 2008, all 47 remaining forensic patients were moved to [[Torrance State Hospital]] in Torrance Pennsylvania.<ref name="pfister">{{cite news |first=Bonnie |last=Pfister |title=Mayview to close soon; 15 patients stayed on an additional month until the December 2008 closing. |work=[[Tribune-Review]] |date=21 December 2008}}</ref>

From August 2007 to December 2008, over 200 former patients were moved into community-based settings, most of which having 24-hour on-site support staff. Mayview officially closed at the end of December 2008.<ref name="pfister"/>

In June 2010, Mayview State Hospital was sold for $505,000. The agreement between the state and Aloe Brothers of Mt. Washington, which was signed May 24, covers about {{convert|150|acre}} of land and the buildings on the site.<ref>[http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/localnews/06-05-2010-Mayview-sale "Former Mayview Hospital sells for $505K"]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''Observer-Reporter'', June 05, 2010</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.mayview-sap.org Mayview Regional Service Area Plan]
*[http://www.abandonedonline.net/hospitals/mayview-state-hospital/ Mayview State Hospital] at Abandoned

{{Pennsylvania State Hospital System}}
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[[Category:Hospital buildings completed in 1893]]
[[Category:Hospitals in Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Psychiatric hospitals in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania]]