Western State Hospital (Boundary Increase)

This boundary increase expands the Western State Hospital complex in Staunton, Virginia, by more than sixteen acres to the south and east of the original core. It adds thirteen contributing brick buildings and one non-contributing stucco and frame garage, dating from 1855 to 1939. Among them are the 1935 Wheary Building, a three-story Classical Revival structure originally built to house suicidal patients; a laundry begun in 1865 and expanded over time; several ward buildings from 1875 to 1894; and brick physicians' dwellings in Colonial Revival style, the earliest from 1898. The buildings form a cohesive group of classically inspired structures that show how care for the state's mentally ill changed into the twentieth century. They reflect the work of architect J. Crawford Neilson and hospital director Dr. Joseph DeJarnette. After the Department of Corrections took over the property, interiors were remodeled, notably in 1982. The property is now listed as vacant.