Massachusetts Mental Health Center

Massachusetts Mental Health Center History

In 1909, land was purchased in downtown Boston for the construction of a hospital to serve as a department of the nearby Boston State Hospital. Construction began in 1910, and was overseen by Dr. Elmer E. Southard; it would be completed on June 24th 1912, and designed by Taylor Kendall. The facility was used to admit, diagnose, and allocate acute psychiatric patients. In 1920, the facility separated from the main hospital and took on its own entity to continue to conduct research in the mental health field, its name would later change to the Massachusetts Mental Health Center.

The state's lease to the property expired in 2003, and the facility closed its doors, hoping to reopen in five years to continue its mission in mental health research. Although the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, it was eventually demolished in 2011.