Working Years
For decades the Weston State Hospital was in use, taking in epileptics, alcoholics, drug addicts, and people with mental disorders. In 1892 a wrought iron fence was put around the building and grounds, and in 1902 natural gas was found near the hospital and was immediately hooked up, creating a savings of $5,000 per year for the state. Eleven years later the Trans Allegheny Insane Asylum was renamed the Weston State Hospital.
Tragedy struck the building on October 3, 1935 when a fire broke out in ward six. Instead of ringing the fire bell, and panicking the patients, the nurses rang the dinner bell, which transferred 390 patients calmly to another building. However, one patient who had been sleeping when the bell was rung woke a few minutes later to find himself surrounded by flames. Firefighters put a 55 foot ladder against the building, and the fire chief, Gary Marsh, bravely climbed up to rescue the poor man. The patient inside was able to get out of the window by bending the bars that blocked escape, and get down the ladder to safety. Luckily, no lives were lost, although two men came close to death when a cupola and part of the roof came crashing down where they had been standing just a few seconds before. After the fire, many patients no longer had a ward that was livable, so they were transferred to Jackson's Mill, a 4-H camp, and returned once the wards were repaired. The burned wing was rebuilt with $115,000 from the Works Progress Administration. Today, you can still see the black marks from the smoke beneath the windows on the south wing.
Three years after the fire, Dr. Jones L. Granville conducted a survey of the hospital through the Survey of Mental Hospital Committee, and wrote about the building. He wrote that in the central portion of the building there were administration offices, a small amount of bedrooms, the kitchen, and dinning rooms. There were two wings, the south one for the men, and the north one for the women. These wards were long with rooms on both sides and a large sitting room for activities. Some walls had recently been painted, and here and there were curtains or rugs to cheer the place up. In rooms there were wooden chairs or benches, and metal beds. Some rooms had only a cot, and no bed. The survey was the "beginning of consideration being given to closing the 88 year old hospital for a more modern, state of the art facility."
Eleven years later, there was another study with more bad news. Mrs. Charles Hoag stated that the hospital was "sprawling over a quiet expanse of well tended lawns, (which) conceals behind its imposing facades the worst and the best of West Virginia's care for the mentally ill." According to Mrs. Hoag, the southern wing, where the fire had been, was cheery, and was the "best of West Virginia's care." The northern wing however, which had not been redone, was the "worst." This was the beginning of the end for the Weston State Hospital.
The Weston State Hospital always had a huge impact on the community, even when it was still being built. It gave a job to many men, and the area grew because men from Ireland, Germany, and Scotland came to build it. Houses were built to accommodate the newcomers, and many of the new comers stayed in the area, even after the job was done. When the hospital was complete, nurses, doctors, aides, janitors, and other workers were needed in the hospital, and farmers in the area provided the hospital with food.
Not only was the hospital good for economic improvement, but also the social life of Weston. Picnics and high school football games were held on the grounds, and local cotillions, parties, and other dances were held in the ballroom. As one person said, "Life in Weston has revolved around the hospital since its inception."
Cemeteries
There are three cemeteries that are currently on a hill behind the hospital, all of them used at different times. The first was used from 1858- 1900, the second, from 1901-1933, and the last from 1933- to the 1970s.
Several thousand people are buried there, but unfortunately, it's almost impossible to find someone in the cemetery. The names of the people there are only available to the person's family, and even the family must have a court order. However, even with a court order, the closest the family can get to the burial place is the general area, because there are only twenty-four markings in all of the cemeteries. Supposedly, at one time there were markers, but some maintenance worker removed them. Another rumor is that the markers were placed in the coffin with the body.
There are many reasons why a patient would have been buried in the cemetery. Many had no family, or their families were too poor to pay for a burial elsewhere. Some patients had a disease that was contagious, even after death. Still others had a mistaken identity, or the family was not informed of the death in time to come get the body. A small number of patients who died became "Philippi mummies." These bodies went to the West Virginia University for research, and their names are not known. The last burials in the cemeteries were in 1962.