Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was a psychiatric hospital located in Weston, West Virginia and known by other names such as West Virginia Hospital for the Insane and Weston State Hospital. The asylum was open to patients from October 1864 until May 1994. The new hospital in Weston has been named for William R. Sharpe, Jr. who was a member of the West Virginia Senate. After closure, the hospital once again became known as the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum after reopening as a tourist location in March 2008.

Utilizing the Kirkbride Plan, the hospital was designed by architect Richard Snowden Andrews of Baltimore, Maryland. Construction of the hospital started in 1858 but was not completed until 1881. Originally designed to accommodate 250 patients, it became overcrowded in the 1950s with 2,400 patients.