Posted in Illinois January 10, 2017 by

The Stories Behind This Former Illinois Sanitarium Will Astound You

In the mid-1800s, a beautiful limestone building was erected in Batavia. Throughout the many years since, it has been reinvented numerous times to serve a wide array of purposes. Read on for the incredible story of Batavia Institute!

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This structure has been called by many names over the years, ranging from Batavia Institute to Bellevue Place to Fox Hill Home.
G LeTourneau/Wikimedia
Its story begins well over 150 years ago.
In the mid-1850s, there was a need for a secondary school in the Batavia area.
Batavia Depot Museum/Facebook
Batavia Institute was built and run by local Congregational churches for ten years, and students came from many surrounding towns.
The building was purchased in 1867 by Dr. Richard J. Patterson.
Batavia Depot Museum/Facebook
He turned the structure into Bellevue Place, a sanitarium for women with mental illnesses.
For a few months in 1875, Bellevue Place had a brief brush with fame.
Mary Todd Lincoln House/Facebook
A Chicago court ordered that former First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln be placed in a mental institution, and she was taken to Bellevue Place.
Psychologists today say that it was likely Mary was suffering from bipolar disorder in addition to severe grief from the deaths of her husband and three children.
Materialscientist/Wikimedia
She was released after just a few months at Bellevue Place.
The sanitarium closed after nearly 100 years, but quickly reopened as Fox Hill Home for Girls in 1966.
G LeTourneau/Wikimedia
The home housed unmarried pregnant women and assisted in the adoption process for the children born there. Its history is shrouded in mystery; no records of the home's occupants were left behind.
A few years after being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the building was revived and renovated into apartments.
G LeTourneau/Wikimedia
Taking on its former name of Bellevue Place, the structure is now organized into an assortment of apartments and townhouses.

Do you know any stories about this incredible place? We’d love to hear them! Let us know in the comments.