{"nrhp_refnum":"69000362","name":"Western State Hospital Complex","other_names":["Western State Lunatic Asylum"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of U.S. 11 and U.S. 250","address_restricted":false,"city":"Staunton (Independent City)","county":"Staunton","state":"VA","lat":38.14546581500008,"lon":-79.06776169556552,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-11-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Health/Medicine","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of antebellum buildings at the old site of Western State Hospital (formerly Western State Lunatic Asylum) on Greenville Avenue in Staunton, Virginia. It includes the Main Building, flanking wards, two smaller wards and a chapel, set in landscaped grounds; the Main Building was erected 1826-28.","why_significant":"The complex is argued to be among the earliest and most important Greek Revival public building groups in Virginia, designed by prominent Baltimore architects. It also reflects an enlightened approach to caring for the mentally ill, in which attractive buildings and park-like grounds were thought to have a therapeutic effect.","narrative":"Western State Hospital's antebellum core in Staunton, Virginia, began as the Western Lunatic Asylum, authorized by the General Assembly in 1825 to serve the state's western citizens and relieve the Williamsburg institution. The surviving group centers on a fourteen-bay Main Building, designed by Baltimore architect William Small and built 1826-28, with a three-story center block, an octagonal cupola, temple-form end pavilions and Ionic porticoes. Flanking wards, a chapel with Gothic windows, and two smaller wards complete the group, all in fine Flemish bond brick. The interior retains Greek Revival woodwork, double spiral staircases and original hardware. The buildings stand in a romantic park with shade trees, fountains and an iron fence from the 1850s. The complex is notable as an early Greek Revival public building group in Virginia and as evidence of early directors' belief that beautiful surroundings aided patients' recovery.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William Small (William F. Small, Jr.) of Baltimore, architect of the Main Building; Robert Cary Long, Jr., architect of the flanking wards; William B. Phillips, builder; Thomas Blackburn, designer of the chapel; George W. Wall, mason; John Hannon and William Good, carpenters","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"The 1969 form lists the property as occupied and in good condition, in public ownership; the 1985 boundary documentation lists present use as a state prison and notes that one building is vacant.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.367512-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/29/6838/41683829/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000362.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000362/3100dd9503-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000362/3100dd9503-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ned Hartley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Western_State_Hospital.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ned Hartley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Western_State_Hospital.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683829","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_State_Hospital_(Staunton,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13081407"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/staunton/western-state-hospital-complex-69000362/"}