Photographs of Northern State Hospital, circa 1909-1950

The Northern State Hospital in Sedro Woolley, Washington opened in May of 1912 and closed in 1976. The hospital was one of three mental hospitals in the state, and was also known by the names “Northern State Hospital for the Insane” and “Northern State Hospital for the Criminally Insane”. Northern State Hospital began as a farm for non-violent patients from Western Hospital at Fort Steilacoom. The first building on the hospital campus opened in the fall of 1910, and was used for both planning and administration purposes. In 1911, the hospital was separated from Western Hospital, and became the largest hospital in the state. When Northern State Hospital officially opened on May 27, 1912, it only contained an administration building and a few wards. A large amount of work was put into cleaning and cultivating additional land, building roads, grading, laying drains and sewers, constructing buildings, cutting wood, and repairing barns. Patients assisted in much of the labor through 1914. The well-renowned Olmstead Brothers designed the hospital grounds. As the hospital attained more funding, the campus grew. Multiple buildings were added, including an auditorium, commissary building, machine shop, laundry, refrigeration plant, reservoir, pathological laboratory, library, clinical center, chapel, morgue, crematory, and multiple barns. By 1953, Northern State Hospital consisted of 33 ward buildings and 13 additional buildings spread over 1,200 acres.

Northern State Hospital fostered education and training for patients and staff alike. In addition to construction tasks, patients took part in vocational training at the farm, dairy, printing plant, gardens, greenhouse, and other buildings on the campus, making the hospital largely self-sufficient. Student nurses were also trained on the hospital premises.

Patients were sent to the hospital from the eight northwestern counties of Washington State: Skagit, Whatcom, Snohomish, King, Jefferson, San Juan, Clallam and Island. Superintendents for the hospital include Dr. A. H. McLeish (from 1911-1933), Dr. W.E. Cass (from 1913-1914), Dr. J.W. Doughty (from 1914-1945), Dr. Clifford Halvorsen (1945-1950), and Dr. Charles H. Jones (from 1950- presumably 1971), and Dr. James Reardon (1971-1976).