West Virginia Built America’s Largest Hand-Cut Stone Structure to House the Mentally Ill in 1864

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, West Virginia

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is a huge Gothic-style building in Weston, West Virginia that was a psychiatric hospital from 1864 to 1994.

It was designed for 250 patients but eventually held over 2,400 people in the 1950s when overcrowding became severe. After closing, it was bought at an auction in 2007 and reopened for tours in 2008.

It’s one of the largest buildings made from hand-cut stone in America, maybe second only to the Kremlin in Moscow, and now offers history and ghost tours for visitors.

The Civil War slowed down construction for years

When Virginia left the Union, the 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry took the construction money from a local bank and sent it to Wheeling for the Union-loyal Virginia government.

The first patients moved in during October 1864, but workers kept building until 1881. They finished the 200-foot central clock tower in 1871.

After West Virginia became a state in 1863, they renamed it the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane and later just called it Weston State Hospital.

The building design is part of the treatment

They built the asylum using the Kirkbride Plan, created by Dr. Thomas Kirkbride.This new approach to building was based on the idea that beautiful surroundings might help cure mental illness.

Reading novels could get you locked up here

People ended up here for many reasons beyond mental illness. Medical problems like asthma, rabies, and tuberculosis could get you admitted.

So could talking back to your husband, having stomach problems, questioning your family history, getting too excited about politics or religion, or being kicked by a horse.

Other reasons included “change of life,” “menstrual problems,” “childbirth,” “broken heart,” “death of sons in war,” “family trouble,” “laziness” and even “reading too many novels.”

Tour guides often say most of us would probably qualify for admission today.

Good intentions gave way to terrible crowding

The asylum started with good intentions but got too full over time. Though made for just 250 patients, more and more people kept coming in.

They packed multiple beds into rooms that used to be spacious. What began as a calm, caring place slowly fell apart as they admitted more people than they could handle.

Patients suffered in terrible crowding. Some were chained to walls or abused as conditions got worse. By the 1950s, they had ten times more than what the building could hold.

Lobotomies part of regular treatment

In the early 1950s, the asylum became the site of the West Virginia Lobotomy Project. The state worked with Dr. Walter Freeman to reduce overcrowding by performing lobotomies on patients. Dr. Freeman became known for creating the “ice pick” lobotomy.

Now we see it as a dark part of psychiatric history. Many patients had permanent brain damage from these procedures.

Patients were kept in cages until the 1990s

By the 1980s, fewer patients lived at the hospital because mental health treatment had changed. Still, conditions weren’t good. Staff often locked patients they couldn’t control in cages.

In 1986, Governor Arch Moore announced plans to build a new psychiatric facility and turn Weston into a prison. Courts later ruled this plan unconstitutional.

The asylum finally closed in May 1994. They moved the remaining patients to the new William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston.

Patient artwork and medical tools are on display

The main building, called the Kirkbride, has several museum rooms on the first floor. You can see art, poems, and drawings that patients made during therapy.

One room shows the different medical treatments and restraints they used over the years, including items like straitjackets and hydrotherapy tubs.

These displays give you a real sense of the lives of people who stayed here. The patient artwork is especially moving, showing how creative expression helped them cope with their conditions.

You can pay to stay overnight

You can choose from several tour options when you visit. They offer historic daytime tours from March through November.

For the brave, they have ghost hunts, paranormal tours, and even overnight stays. Prices vary by what you want to do. A 2-hour paranormal tour costs $40 plus tax.

An overnight ghost hunt from 9 PM to 5 AM costs $150 plus tax and needs at least 10 people. The best option might be the 6-hour Monday tour when the asylum is closed to other visitors. It covers all four floors and the oldest section built during the Civil War.

Visiting The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

You can find it just west of I-79 exit 99, at 71 Asylum Drive. It reopened for walk-in tours on March 29, 2025, which start every hour, with the last 45-minute tour at 5 PM. The office is open Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM.