1990 - Weston Hospital, Weston, WV

Governor Henry R. Wise of Virginia appointed a committee to locate a site for a new hospital to house 250 mentally ill patients. Weston in Lewis County was selected over two other locations. In 1858 he authorized that the facility be built in what was then Virginia

R. Snowden Andrews of Baltimore was the architect. The hospital site occupies more than 300 acres and is reputed to be the largest hand cut stone building in the world. The sandstone structure is 1,295 feet in length with one 200 foot tower and four 150 foot towers. The center portion of the hospital is five stories high.

Prisoners from the State Penitentiary of Virginia comprised the construction crew. Construction was delayed in 1861 to spare funds for the coming Civil War. After the Civil War, the partially finished hospital was the only public building which fell within the newly created State of West Virginia’s borders.

Weston Hospital was opened to patients as early as 1863, the main building was completed along with the east wing in 1871 with the total completion in 1881. The cost was $305,000. After a fire in 1935 the hospital was renovated.

Weston Hospital, West Virginia’s oldest state institution is the only public building in the State authorized by the Virginia assembly.