Northern State Hospital History: Resources

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 interconnnected parks managed by the City of Sedro-Woolley, Skagit County Parks and Recreation and the Port of Skagit.

Visitors can explore a portion of the old hospital buildings, splash in Hansen Creek, walk the farm paths, and hike the expanding Northern State Trail System.

To learn more about hospital history, here are links to our favorite resources:

• NorthernStateHospital.org. Skagit County Historian Amy Muia is the author of the Northern State Hospital Guidebook and has curated a rich collection of stories and photographs.

• Under the Red Roof: One Hundred Years at Northern State Hospital. By Mary McGoffin. Originally published in 2011. Updated in 2020. This book can be purchased on Amazon or at the Sedro Woolley Museum.
• Sedro Woolley Museum: Remembering Northern State and Photo Timeline.
• 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.
• Olmsted 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.

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.