Credit: Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
https://www.georgiatrust.org/places-in-peril/central-state-hospital/#foobox-1/5/DJI_0005.jpg
With over 200 buildings on Central State Hospital’s campus, most having been abandoned for decades, Georgia is at risk of losing one of our state’s greatest historical resources. There have been numerous calls for preservation of the campus, but little has been done beyond preservation and restoration of the Powell Building and Cedar Lane Cemetery, where there are over 25,000-30,000 graves on hospital grounds. In the 1960s, prison inmates working as groundskeepers were annoyed by the grave markers impeding their work, and the markers were removed and tossed into the woods. While graves were individually marked prior to this incident, in the 1990s, the Georgia Consumer Council installed 2,000 cast-iron grave markers to commemorate the deceased, and installed a statue of a bronze angel at the cemetery as well.
Central State Hospital was listed in 2010 and 2020 as one of the ten Places in Peril on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual report of historic places in danger of being lost forever. Since Central State Hospital fully closed in 2013 (except to some forensic patients), the campus has continued to deteriorate. A small museum has been installed in the former train depot, and the Central State Hospital Redevelopment Authority has been working with various industries in Georgia to try to preserve and even re-purpose some of the buildings on campus. The Jones Building, for example, was used as a shooting location for the hit television show “The Vampire Diaries,” and various groups are trying to find ways to preserve and restore the hospital. As was the case with several other mental health hospitals of the 19th century, the rapid deinstitutionalization movement resulted in these historic buildings being abandoned and left largely to rot. There is much that can be learned about the history of mental health treatment, American views of mental illness, and progress in mental health treatment within the walls and records of Central State. But with decreasing funds for the arts, humanities, and historic preservation, it will take significant public involvement to help preserve as much of the campus as possible.
Credit: Gregory Miller, https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/asylum-inside-central-state-hospital-worlds-largest-mental-institution/
Credit: Gregory Miller, https://www.atlantamagazine.com/great-reads/asylum-inside-central-state-hospital-worlds-largest-mental-institution/
Credit: Richard Nickel, Jr., 2009, http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2009/09/central-state-hospital-milledgeville-ga.html
Credit: Richard Nickel, Jr., 2009 http://kingstonlounge.blogspot.com/2009/09/central-state-hospital-milledgeville-ga.html
Learn More/Get Involved
- The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation’s Places in Peril–Central State Hospital: https://www.georgiatrust.org/places-in-peril/central-state-hospital/
- The Central State Hospital Redevelopment Authority (CSHLRA), also called Renaissance Park, is trying to revitalize and repurpose the campus: https://renaissanceparkga.com/about/
Echoes of Central State Hospital 
