Jacksonville Developmental Center

The Jacksonville Developmental Center was an institution for developmentally delayed clients, located in Jacksonville, Illinois. It was open from 1851 to November 2012. As of December 2012^[update], the 134-acre (54 ha) grounds was still owned by the State of Illinois.

Illinois originally did not have any system for caring for its mentally ill citizens who were either living with their family or kept in local almshouses. Dorothea Dix lobbied the state legislature to create a facility in Illinois designed for the care of the mentally ill. On March 1, 1847, the legislature established the Illinois State Asylum and Hospital for the Insane with a nine-member board of trustees that was empowered to appoint a superintendent, purchase land within four miles of Jacksonville, and construct facilities. (L. 1847, p. 52). At the time, only two other states had state-operated facilities for the mentally ill. The hospital was created to shift the economic burden of the mentally ill onto the state, which paid all of the patients' expenses. However, patients (or their county of residence) remained responsible for transportation, clothing and incidentals.

At the time, institutions for the mentally ill either had a number of small cottages, or a single large central building under the Kirkbride Plan. The trustees selected Kirkbride's approach for the new institution. The center building was five and a half stories high, with two separate wings for each gender extending with staggered setbacks from the center. In 1984, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, although it was demolished in the 1970s.

Construction of the buildings was begun in 1848 and James M. Higgins was hired as Superintendent. Although Dix had expressed interest that Jacksonville State Hospital be opened by 1849, it wasn't until November 3, 1851, that the first two wards were ready for occupancy and the first patient, Sophronia McElhiney, of McLean County, was admitted.

In 1860, Elizabeth P.W. Packard's husband had her committed to Jacksonville against her will, due to a disagreement over her religious beliefs. At the time, Illinois law (which was enacted when the hospital opened) had an exception to its commitment hearing requirement to allow husbands confined their wives to an asylum without any hearing. After three years, she was discharge from the hospital. Her husband then imprisoned her in their home, and after gaining her freedom through a lawsuit, she formed the Anti-Insane Asylum Society. She led a campaign to amend the Illinois law to guarantee a public hearing for all people declared insane, including women whose husbands wished to have them committed. She also saw similar laws passed in three other states.

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