Columbus Mileposts | May 1, 1866: Lunatic asylum claimed sparkling cure rates

The Central Ohio Lunatic Asylum, one of four hospitals for the insane the state operated during the Civil War, was curing patients at an amazing clip in the mid-19th century, according to a report issued May 1, 1866.

Superintendent R. Hills said 82 patients had been admitted during the previous six months and 74 had been discharged. Of those 74, Hills reported, 51 had recovered, six had improved, nine were released “unimproved” and eight had died.

Hills’ success paled in comparison with that of Dr. William Awl, the asylum’s first superintendent. In 1843, he claimed a cure rate of 100?percent, earning him the nickname by which medical students still know him — Dr. Cure-Awl.

The asylum, the first institution for the treatment of the insane west of the Allegheny Mountains, was built in 1838 on a 30-acre tract on E. Broad Street, about a mile from the Statehouse. It was expanded in 1844, 1845 and 1846.

But the structure was destroyed by a fire in 1868 that killed seven people. Patients were sent to the state’s other asylums until 1877, when a new asylum, the Central Ohio Psychiatric Hospital, opened on a 304-acre tract on the Hilltop. That massive building was the largest structure under roof in the country until the Pentagon was built in the 1940s. It was demolished in the 1980s to make way for buildings housing the Ohio departments of transportation and public safety.

Suggestions for Mileposts that will run this bicentennial year can be sent to Gerald Tebben, Box 82125, Columbus, OH 43202, or email gtebben@columbus.rr.com.