Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum
Asylum in Weston, West Virginia
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (known to locals as the Weston State Hospital) was a Kirkbride Plan psychiatric hospital. It was operated from 1864 until 1994 by the government of West Virginia, in the city of Weston.
Built by architect Richard Andrews, it was constructed from 1858-1881. Construction was interrupted by the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. The Asylum is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America, and is purportedly the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin.
Originally designed to hold 250 people, it became overcrowded in the 1950s with 2,400 patients. It was forcibly closed in 1994 due to changes in treatments of patients.
Location
71 Asylum Dr
Weston, West Virginia 26452
United States
