Agnews Insane Asylum

Agnews Insane Asylum, later known as Agnews Developmental Center, is a hospital campus of about 80 acres in Santa Clara, rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake destroyed the earlier buildings. Its reinforced concrete, stucco and red tile buildings follow a Mediterranean-style design and sit in a formal landscape of palms, pepper trees and wide lawns. Palm Drive leads to the administration building and the clock tower buildings, and nearly all of the main structures were drawn by Sellon and Hemmings for the State Architect. Reinforced concrete was still a new method at the time. The district was recognized for its health and medicine history and its social history. Dr. Leonard Stocking, superintendent from 1907 to 1931, ran the hospital as a model institution, removing most physical restraints and promoting research alongside care. The site also reflects early twentieth-century architecture and landscape design, and it has changed very little since about 1911. A separate cemetery is included.