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Sonoma Developmental Center

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NRHP Reference #
  
00001180

Phone
  
+1 707-938-6000

Added to NRHP
  
6 October 2000

Area
  
6.758 kmĀ²

Architectural style
  
Gothic architecture

Construction began
  
1891

Sonoma Developmental Center

Location
  
15000 Arnold Drive Eldridge, California

Address
  
15000 Arnold Dr, Eldridge, CA 95431, USA

Similar
  
Jack London State Hist, David Grant USAF Me, Sonoma Mountain, Langley Porter Psychiatri, Sonoma Valley Regional

Sonoma developmental center closure forum department of developmental services part 3


The Sonoma Developmental Center is a large, state-run facility in California, United States, serving the needs of people with developmental disabilities. It is located in Eldridge in Sonoma County.

Contents

Sonoma developmental center closure forum department of developemental services part 1


History

It opened at its current location on November 24, 1891, though it had existed at previous locations in Vallejo and Santa Clara since 1884.

The facility's current name dates from 1986. Former names include:

  • California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children (1883)
  • Sonoma State Home (1909)
  • Sonoma State Hospital (1953)
  • History:

    1883 - First home opened at White Sulphur Springs near Vallejo.

    1884 - Fasking Park, Alameda County.

    1885-1891 - The Home was located in Santa Clara, California, near the intersection of Market and Washington Street.

    1891 - A new site for the Home was purchased from former State Senator William Hill for $51,000. Two railroads ran through the site until World War II. The superintendent was Dr. Antrim Edgar Osborn.

    Superintendents

    1891- Antrim Edgar Osborn, M.D.

    1900 - William. P. Lawlor, M.D.

    1903 - W. J. G. Dawson, M.D.

    1919 - Frederick Otis Butler, M.D.

    1949 -

    1918 - A Spanish influenza epidemic killed dozens of inmates. Dr. Lawlor was also killed.

    The Home had primarily four types of residents: the mentally handicapped, the epileptic, the physically disabled, and the "psychopathic delinquent." From almost the start, the Home was overcrowded.

    2000 - Main building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

    Fictional Works

  • The Center provided the setting for Jack London's short story "Told in the Drooling Ward" (1914).
  • The book In All Things: A Return to the Drooling Ward is a fictionalized account based on the author's experiences while training as a psychiatric technician at the former hospital.
  • References

    Sonoma Developmental Center Wikipedia