Fairfield State Hospital - History

History

Fairfield State Hospital was created due to overcrowding at the other two state hospitals. Walter P. Crabtree, Sr. designed the campus-like facility. Dedicated to a common development theme, the institutional buildings were of a modified colonial style, built of red brick and attractively accented. On June 10, 1931, the cornerstone was laid for the Fairfield State Hospital (renamed to Fairfield Hills Hospital in 1963 per P.A. 278). The campus was constructed largely fireproof throughout. Some later constructed buildings were built during the 1940s and 1950s.

The hospital contained 16 buildings on 100 acres (0.40 km2), plus another 670 acres (2.7 km2) of land around them. The acreage consisted of large farm meadows and a forest. A circular network of roads connected the buildings.

The hospital opened and received its first patients on June 1, 1933 from Connecticut Valley Hospital. There were initially less than 500 patients, and only 3 doctors. By the late 1960s Fairfield Hills housed more than 4,000 patients, 20 doctors, 50 nurses, and 100 assorted other employees.

On December 8, 1995 the facility was closed and patients were transferred to the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut. The records from Fairfield Hills Hospital are located in RG 021, subgroup 7 at the Connecticut State Library & Archives in restricted files arranged into three series:

• Patients, 1933-1995 admission and discharge records;
• Personnel, 1934-1943 records of separation; and
• Medical Staff Records, 1937-1974 records of birth and deportation, autopsies, and medical examiner cases.