Contributed by the Pueblo County volunteers: Jean G., Lydia, Pat, Shelly, Harriett, Marla, Jean R., and Karen Mitchell. This project was coordinated by Jean Griesen, who contributed hundreds of hours in typing and scheduled the other volunteers with assignments.
(photo courtesy of Denver Public Library)
8 Feb 1879 The state of Colorado enacted legislation establishing the state's first public mental hospital, the Colorado Insane Asylum, now named the Colorado Mental Health Institute Pueblo. The first 11 patients were admitted in October, 1879, to a temporary hospital located in an existing building near Pueblo, Colorado. The permanent hospital building opened on November 20, 1883. P. R. Thombs was medical superintendent of the hospital for its first 20 years.
(photos courtesy of Denver Public Library)
In 1917, the insane asylum was renamed the Colorado State Hospital. By 1923, the census of the hospital climbed to 2,422 and continued to grow until 1961 when the hospital had nearly 6,000 patients.
Main Gates (photo courtesy of Denver Public Library)
The sign at the entrance still reads "Colorado State Hospital" although in 1991 the Colorado Department of Human Services psychiatric facilities names were changed to Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo and the one in Denver to Colorado Mental Health Institute at Fort Logan.
