Northern State Hospital History: Recommended Reading

As we work on the new trail system at Northern State Recreation Area, we are often asked about the history of Northern State Hospital.

Northern State Hospital was designed by Seattle architects, Saunders and Lawton. The grounds were designed by the Olmsted Brothers Architecture Firm. The purpose was to be a place of compassion, rest, and refuge for those suffering from mental illness. Construction began in 1909 and the first patients took residence in 1912.

The park-like grounds were the pride of Sedro Woolley and a large number of locals were employed by the hospital. The hospital also operated a farm that engaged patients in meaningful work and job training.

After de-funding by the state and a period of decline, the hospital closed in 1973. Sadly, many patients were released with no where to go.

Today, the hospital grounds and farm property are revived as a county park. Visitors can explore a portion of the old hospital buildings, splash in Hansen Creek, walk the farm paths, and hike the new trail system that loops north along Hansen and Hill Creeks.

To learn more, here are links to a few of our favorite resources:

• The Seattle Times: Lost Patients of Washington’s Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital. Sydney Brownstone 2023.
• The Seattle Times: Northern State Hospital Death Records have Never Been Publicly Available – Until Now. Taylor Blatchford 2023.
• Washington Rural Heritage: Photos of Northern State Hospital.
• Sedro Woolley Museum: Remembering Northern State and Photo Timeline.
• Olmstead Online: Drawing of Plan dated 1911.
• Library of American Landscape History: Can Pastoral Beauty Heal the Mind? Jane Roy Brown 2009.
• Skagit County Master Plan. The Future of Northern State Recreation Area.
• Book: Under the Red Roof: One Hundred Years at Northern State Hospital. By Mary McGoffin. Originally published in 2011. Updated in 2020. Can be purchased on Amazon or at the Sedro Woolley Museum.

Land Acknowledgment

Northern State Recreation Area is located on the ancestral lands of the Upper Skagit and Sauk-Suiattle people. For thousands of years, Coast Salish tribes – Swinomish, Samish, Upper Skagit, Sauk-Suattle, Lower Skagit, and more – have stewarded these lands, waterways, plants, and animals. We pay respect to the elders past, present, and emerging for they hold the memories, traditions, and culture of their people across the nation. We honor and acknowledge the continued presence of all Indigenous peoples.