Nevada State Hospital

NEVADA STATE HOSPITAL

The Nevada State Insane Asylum opened its doors on July 1, 1882. Later known as the Nevada State Hospital.  The State constructed the asylum three miles east of reno and acquired a one-sixth interest in the nearby Sullivan ditch.  The first building at the hospital was a four-story second empire-style building designed by Andrew F. Mackay and Gotth Haist of Virginia City, with room for 200 patients.

The asylum was largely self-sufficient, operating as a working farm. Asylum staff and patients cultivated alfalfa fields, orchards, and gardens using water from the Sullivan ditch as well as poultry yards and a dairy.  Support buildings included barns, a boiler plant, laundry facilities, an icehouse, machine shops, a morgue, and a cemetery. A river-powered generator supplied electricity to the hospital.

As the patient population grew, the state added new buildings to the grounds and remodeled existing buildings. Many designed by prominent local architects, including Frederic Delongchamps, Edward Parsons, Ray Hellman, Albert Alegre, and Weldon Harrison. The original building was condemned in the 1950s and demolished in 1960.

State Historical Marker No. 274

State Historic Preservation Office

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Nevada Department of Veterans Services

Nevada Division of Public Works