LOCAL HISTORY

Evansville State Hospital

The Evansville State Hospital grounds are one of the most popular locations for casual photography in the area. We asked Director, Jeff Wedding, to share the history of the building and tips to keep in mind when photographing on the grounds.

Evansville State Hospital was founded in 1890 and was built well outside of city limits. As the option for utopian treatment for people with mental illnesses began to expand, so did our property. At one point the hospital encompassed 900 acres of land that was self-sufficient with farms, cattle, dairy etc. and had upwards of 1200 patients who lived out their days here. With the dawn of community mental health centers in the 1960s, many patients now had more options for community placement via group homes. As a result, the need for the large amount of property was no longer necessary and the State of Indiana began to sell off tracts of land. In its present form, our grounds sit on 88 acres and still serve the purpose of helping our patients reintegrate back out into the community. Previous administrations saw a need for community ties and allowed access from the general public onto select areas of our grounds from sunrise to sunset each day. While we are a state operated facility, it is important to note that we are not a state park. As a result, we are left to

follow some guidelines that keep the best interest of our patients and our hospital in mind. I would like for the Evansville community to know that we wish to continue keeping the public active on our grounds but that they do their part to follow posted signs and to keep our grounds beautiful and safe for our patients. It is for this reason that we do not generally allow large events on our grounds. However, there are some exceptions like mental health causes that can hold occasional events with proper approval and certificates of liability insurance. As far a simple photography sessions go we only ask that folks not photograph near any building or courtyard on our campus for

Jeff Wedding Assistant Superintendent / Director of Operations Evansville State Hospital 3400 Lincoln Avenue

Evansville, IN 47714 (812) 469-6800 Jeffrey.Wedding@fssa.IN.gov