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Item Title
Agnews State Hospital, Demented Men's Building, Intersection of Fifth Street & Avenue A, Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, CA
LocationIntersection of Fifth Street & Avenue A,
Santa%252525252525252525252BClara, CA
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Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1933.
Notes
Survey number HABS CA-2710-N
Building/structure dates:
1926 initial construction
Building/structure dates:
1984 subsequent work
Building/structure dates:
1994 subsequent work
Building/structure dates:
1998 demolished
Significance: Building 15 is significant during the period from 1908 to 1941 as an integral component of the reconstruction of Agnews State Hospital in a pavilion plan. The 1907 design for the hospital symbolized not only a reconfiguration of buildings into smaller structures in a park-like setting, but an important change in the perspectives on and the treatment of patients. Agnews was the first mental facility in California to switch from the confinement and permanent housing of patients to humane treatment with the hope of release. Building 15, Building for Demented (Men), represents the residential portion of the new plan. In keeping with the pavilion model, it was constructed as a small, specialized housing unit surrounded by grass and trees, and each room had ample windows to allow in light and air. Building 15 and its counterpart, Building 14, the Building for Demented (Women), were the rudimentary steps in a residential system that progressed from housing for patients with the most debilitating mental illnesses to those preparing to leave the hospital. In addition, Building 15 and the other structures from the 1907 plan are important as early attempts to use reinforced concrete as an earthquake and fire-resistant material.
Related Names
Porter, William A., Photographer
Stock, Jody, Historian
Corbett, Michael, Historian
Collection
Historic American Buildings Survey (Library of Congress)
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