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Central
State Hospital Genealogy
10510 LaGrange Rd, Louisville, Kentucky
40223
502-253-7000
Herein lies an attempt to catalog the
names of the persons who resided, and possibly, buried
on the grounds of Central State Asylum. It is
requested that those who have found this institution's
name listed on any family death certificate (s) to send
an email so as to acquire a complete listing of persons who
lived or might have been buried here and the approximate
timeframe. Please just send a quick line to your
county coordinator giving the information known to you. It
will be added to the cemetery listing.
At one time, the
grounds of Central State Hospital included a much more expansive
area and was a farm, and included the land of present day Tom Sawyer State Park and
beyond.
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An
overview of the current grounds from Google
maps. The photos on this page were found
in "The Village of Anchorage" by Samuel W. Thomas. |
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It is possible for a
direct descendant of the Old Kentucky State Hospital
patient to be appointed administrator of that person's
estate for purposes of accessing existing records.
There is a court cost of $52.00. |
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State
Government Listing - Cabinet for Health & Family Services
http://mhmr.ky.gov/Facilities/ |
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Lake at back of grounds - where the name,
Lakeland, was derived. |
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"Lakeland Asylum"
was actually the Central Kentucky Asylum for the
Insane. Built in 1869
in Anchorage, it initially housed juvenile delinquents
and was called the Home for Juvenile Delinquents at
Lakeland. In 1873, it became a lunatic asylum and was
renamed the Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum. By the time
"The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding" was
published (1907), the name had been changed to the Central
Kentucky Asylum for the Insane. The facility cared for
patients with psychiatric disorders, mental retardation
and brain damage and was located next to where
Louisville's E. P. Tom Sawyer Park stands today. The
original building shown in the post card above was
bulldozed in 1996.
During the late
19th and early 20th centuries, escaped lunatics were an
every day hazard of life in Pewee (Lloydsboro) Valley.
The Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum was located only a
few miles outside the city limits and inmate escapes
occurred with some frequency. - excerpted from the
Little Colonel website.
Central State Hospital is a 192-bed adult
psychiatric hospital located in eastern Jefferson
County, Kentucky, near Louisville. In 1869, land was
bought from the Hite family, from the same original
grant that would become nearby Anchorage, Kentucky.
Though it initially housed juvenile delinquents, it 1873
it was converted into the state's fourth lunatic asylum,
and renamed Central Kentucky Lunatic Asylum. By
1900 it was renamed Central Kentucky Asylum for the
Insane.
The secluded, rural setting was typical for such
facilities in the late 19th century, as such an
environment was thought to be beneficial for recovery
from mental illness. However, not all patients had
mental disorders, some suffered from brain damage,
mental retardation or were simply poor or elderly.
Though built for 1,600 patients, by 1940 there were
2,400. However, starting in the 1950s, changing
community perception of the mentally disturbed, as well
as the development of effective psychiatric medications,
lead to fewer patients staying permanently in mental
hospitals, and the average stay at the facility was two
weeks by the 1990s.
In 1986 a new facility was completed on the original
grounds, and the old buildings were razed. Though it
flirted with privatization in the 1970s, it is publicly
operated today ......
.......The land
that is now Anchorage was a part of Isaac Hite's 1773
land grant, which awarded most of the land in today's
Jefferson County to officers in the Virginia militia, in
exchange for their service in the French and Indian War.
Early maps refer to the area as Hite's Mill. Part of his
original grant now makes up the grounds of Central State
Hospital and E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. -
Wikipedia listing
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