Dannemora State Hospital

An 1896 appropriations act (Chapter 949) allocated money for the construction at Dannemora of buildings to accommodate "three hundred insane convicts," the money to be spent under the direction of the superintendent of state prisons. The next year, when continuation of construction was authorized (Laws of 1897, Chapter 395), the name specified to be used for the facility upon completion was the Dannemora State Hospital for Insane Convicts. The hospital, built on the grounds of the Clinton Prison, was officially established in 1899 (Chapter 520) as a facility for the confinement and care of males convicted of felonies who were declared insane while serving sentences. The superintendent of state prisons was to appoint a medical superintendent who, in addition to being in charge of the generalmanagement and regulation of the hospital, would also act as treasurer. When the hospital was completed, the superintendent of Matteawan State Hospital was to transfer to Dannemora all male inmates convicted of felonies who and at least six months left to serve on their sentences. Males serving time for felonies in state prisons, reformatories, or penitentiaries, and who were declared insane, were also to be transferred to Dannemora. Original certificates of conviction of these inmates were to be transmitted to the hospital when the inmates were transferred. The hospital received its first inmates in 1900. In 1904 (Chapter 323), an amendment to the Revised Statutes prohibited the sale of any land within 10 miles of Clinton Prison, reserving it for the use of the prison and the hospital. In 1912 (Chapter 121), the name of this institution was changed to the Dannemora State Hospital. In 1926 (Chapter 606), a State Departments Law amendment created the Department of Corrections and placed the hospital under this department's jurisdiction. The hospital operated as a confinement and care facility for mentally ill convicts and convicts with tuberculosis until 1972, when it was closed and the patients transferred to the Matteawan State Hospital.