User:Caitlinsergio/sandbox

One of the most well-known almshouses during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was located in Newark, New Jersey.

The name of the institution had changed multiple times over the course of almost 50 years:

Part of the Syracuse State School (1878-1885)

State Custodial Asylum for Feeble-Minded Women (1885)

Newark State School for Mental Defectives (1919)

Newark State School (1927)

The almshouse opened in September of 1878 as a branch of the Syracuse State School. It was located on 104 acres of land within the town of Newark, New Jersey and held around 853 patients. The 9 dormitory buildings that housed the patients were able to hold anywhere from 45 to 130 people. There was also a small hospital within the almshouse that could hold up to 30 patients. There were not many employees, only about 110, to take care of the hundreds of young women admitted to the almshouse. Patients were committed to the Newark State School by superintendents of the poor as well as judges who declared them insane or feeble-minded in court.