Photo: "Half Time"

The Laurelton State Village for Feeble-Minded Women of Childbearing Age opened in 1917, with 36 patients, and was the first facility of its kind designed to segregate and care for "feeble-minded" women from puberty through menopause. The facility was established on the principles of eugenics and the premise that one’s intelect or mental deficiency was hereditary and the segregation of those individuals was crucial to ensure they did not reproduce and pass down those genetics. in the cannery, kitchen, laundry or in the fields. There were also recreational portions to the campus, as seen above. 

In the late 1960's a radical change was made and males were admitted to the campus. Decades later, in 1998, the facility would shut its doors.  

Photo: "Theatre Gold"

 
 

The Laurelton State Village for Feeble-Minded Women of Childbearing Age opened in 1917, with 36 patients, and was the first facility of its kind designed to segregate and care for "feeble-minded" women from puberty through menopause. The facility was established on the principles of eugenics and the premise that one’s intelect or mental deficiency was hereditary and the segregation of those individuals was crucial to ensure they did not reproduce and pass down those genetics.
 

Despite the hospital's dark history, this theatre was quite beautiful. I loved the worn texture of the wooden seats, the missing tiles on the ceiling playing a game of Tetris and the beautiful massive windows with gaudy golden draperies. 

 

Photo: "Autopsy Room"

(From the archives, 2010)

Laurelton State Village for the Feeble-Minded Women of a Child Bearing Age was constructed in 1914 and was the first facility of its' kind. It was designed to detain and provide mental health care for women between the ages of 16 and 45 and was a self-sufficient institution. 

In 1969, males were being admitted to the hospital which forced the hospital to take a new direction and it became the Laurelton State School and Hospital. 

The site closed in 1998 and relocated the 193 patients.