Western State Hospital Historic District - Bolivar, TN - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

County of site: Hardeman County
Locatio of district: US-64, western limits of Bolivar

Note: There are signs at both front entrances (all others are blocked closed) that read no entrance without police approval and escort, EVEN TO TAKE PICTURES
They mean it. I was challenged by a Deputy Sheriff who tried to tell me I could not take pictures from across the road.

"The Western State Hospital Historic District is comprised of seven historic and four modern buildings centered around the circa 1889 Administration Building. This large Gothic Revival style building and the circa 1932 classically influenced Polk Building are the two institutional buildings included in the district. Historic support buildings include an apartment building and house, a clothing store, bakery, and carpenter shop. The buildings in the district represent a good example of institutional architecture and help illustrate the self-sufficient nature of the hospital. The district is an intact collection of resources that have undergone few alterations. Historically, the hospital has had four names and was known for the longest time span as Western State Hospital (1919-1965). For this reason, the title "Western State Hospital Historic District" was chosen.

"Opened to receive patients on November 22, 1889, the then denoted "West Tennessee Hospital for the Insane" was designed by architect Harry P. MacDonald of Louisville, Kentucky, and Memphis, Tennessee. The MacDonald firm was responsible for many fine, large public buildings in the South, such as the Sevier County Courthouse in Sevierville, (NR 3/24/71)Tennessee (1896). The institution was intended not only to meet the mental health needs of the Western Section of the State, but also to complete Tennessee's first efforts at implementing a social policy initiated before the Civil War.

"The nominated property is irregular in shape and approximately 37 acres in size. The boundary is as follows: beginning at the intersection of Highway 64 and the driveway behind the Polk Building (K), the boundary moves southwesterly along the west edge of the driveway approximately 1,450 feet to a point behind the maintenance shops (D, E) ; the boundary then moves west approximately 300 feet to another driveway; the boundary then moves north approximately 125 feet until it intersects with the north side of a driveway; the boundary continues west and north approximately 1,900 feet until it intersects with Highway 64; the boundary then moves east approximately 1,900 feet to the point of the beginning." ~ NRHP Nomination Form