South Carolina State Hospital - Columbia, South Carolina
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 34° 00.897 W 081° 02.036
17S E 496866 N 3763814
Historic state hospital in Columbia, South Carolina.
Waymark Code: WMGYZZ
Location: South Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 04/25/2013
Views: 7
The SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HOSPITAL {open by permission), entrance on Bull St. at Elmwood Ave., is set in a park with tall trees and many flowers, a high brick wall enclosing the original grounds, locally called the 'campus.' The Mills Building (R), named for its architect and erected in 1828, is the Nation's oldest edifice continuously in use as a mental hospital. Greek Revival style, the three-story red brick structure has a two-story portico with Doric columns, a windowed cupola painted white, and a red roof. Around arched basement entrances, curved stairs lead to the portico. The door and windows are arched and long symmetrical wings are set at oblique angles to the central pavilion. Other buildings architecturally harmonize with the oldest and have decorative grillwork instead of the conventional window bars. The Dix Cottage perpetuates the name of Dorothea Dix,who visited the hospital in 1852 and 1859 and raised a benefit fund. The institution's farms extend northward, and the plant, including property at State Park, has 2,707 acres.
The hospital, founded in 1821, has national repute. Pellagra was first recognized and treated here, under Dr. J. W. Babcock, superintendent 1891-1914. In 1931 the United States Public Health Service established here a division of Field Investigation of Malaria, the central depot in this country for dissemination of curative material in malarial therapy for paresis. An extensive laboratory was added in 1937. - South Carolina: A Guide to the Palmetto State, Columbia section , pg. 234
Many of the buildings at the State Hospital are now vacant and unused however the Mills Building and a new hospital attached to it continue to be used as a State Hospital. Two of the buildings, the Babcock Building and Mills Building, are listed on National Register of Historic Places. The Mills Building is listed as a National Historic Landmark.