Skip to main content

The timeline can be navigated by dragging the pointer on the timeline bar, located at the bottom of the screen on the desktop version and on the left of the screen on mobile. To filter by a specific topic, make a selection on the dropdown “Filters” menu or click “Search” to do a keyword search. To learn more, click “Read More” below.

Read More
A two story historic brick building under a blue sky with clouds.
The rebuilt Eastern State Hospital in Colonial Williamsburg.

The Virginia Legislature funds the opening of the first psychiatric hospital in the colony of Virginia.

1773

HOSP
MHP
BH
The rebuilt Eastern State Hospital in Colonial Williamsburg.

Now known as Eastern State Hospital, the hospital is first used to remove people with mental health disabilities who are perceived as causing problems in their community from the public sphere. It is the first hospital to admit one "free African American" per year until the end of the Civil War. It is one of two state hospitals in Virginia; the Western State Hospital will open in 1825, and will remain racially segregated until 1967.