Oregon Hospital for the Insane

Oregon Hospital for the Insane was a facility constructed in the city of Portland, Oregon, USA by medical doctors J. C. Hawthorne and A. M. Loryea. Launched in 1859 as Oregon Hospital, the facility later came to specialize in the treatment of mental illness and served as the de facto insane asylum for the state of Oregon under contract with the Oregon Legislature beginning in 1861.

Legislation passed in 1880 led to the launch of the state-owned Oregon State Insane Asylum (today's Oregon State Hospital) in Salem in 1883.

The Oregon Territory became the state of Oregon on February 14, 1859, when President James Buchanan signed enabling legislation into law. At the time of admission into the union, the state of Oregon had a population of a mere 50,000 people — fewer than 3,000 of whom lived in Portland — and sparse medical resources to match.

Pioneer physician J. C. Hawthorne, and "surgeon" A. M. Loryea determined to pool their talent in 1859 with the August launch of "Oregon Hospital," a facility in which both would reside. The hospital was originally located on Portland's Taylor Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues. From the time of launch the hospital was dedicated to the treatment of non-contagious disease.

The hospital seems to have quickly gained support of the Oregon legislature as a semi-official facility for the maintenance and treatment of the mentally ill, with the press reporting in September 1861 that Hawthorne and Loryea were coordinating the contribution of "books for the use of the insane," with materials received to be held in trust as property belonging to the state of Oregon. From approximately that date Hawthorne and Loryea's Oregon Hospital became known as Oregon Hospital for the Insane.

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