The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital
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Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital and Gatehouse
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Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital Gatehouse, December 2009
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| Location | Charles St., Towson, Maryland |
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| Coordinates | 39°23′28″N 76°37′9″W / 39.39111°N 76.61917°WCoordinates: 39°23′28″N 76°37′9″W / 39.39111°N 76.61917°W |
| Area | 20.9 acres (8.5 ha) |
| Built | 1860 |
| Architect | Calvert Vaux; Dixon, Thomas & James M. |
| Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival, Norman Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 71000369 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 11, 1971 |
| Designated NHL | November 11, 1971 |
The Sheppard and Enoch Pratt Hospital, known to many simply as Sheppard Pratt, is a psychiatric hospital located in Towson, a northern suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. The hospital was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.
Founded in 1853 by the Baltimore merchant Moses Sheppard, (1771/1773?-1857), with an endowment of $560,000 (1860's money value) after a visit and inspiration by the well-known mental health rights advocate and social reformer Dorothea Lynde Dix, the hospital was originally called the Sheppard Asylum. Located on the former country estate "Mount Airy Farm" of Baltimore merchant Thomas Poultney, between the old York Road (then the Baltimore and York Turnpike) and (North) Charles Street Avenue, southwest of the suburban/rural Baltimore County seat of then called Towsontown (today's Towson). The original buildings were designed by the famous architect Calvert Vaux and constructed on what had previously been a 340-acre (140 ha) farm, which had been purchased in 1858. The cornerstone of the original building was laid in the spring of 1862. Earlier Gatehouse designs in 1860 by Thomas and James Dixon of Baltimore, and with hospital plans furnished by Dr. D.T. Brown of the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, to be constructed of stone and brick with a frontage of 375 feet. Originally accommodating 150 patients, the facility was designed according to the Kirkbride Plan.
Sheppard stipulated that the following conditions were to be imposed for the Asylum:
“Courteous treatment and comfort of all patients; that no patient was to be confined below ground; all were to have privacy, sunlight and fresh air; the asylum's purpose was to be curative, combining science and experience for the best possible results; and that only income, not principal would be used to build and operate the asylum.”
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