August Photo A Day Challenge - Day 16

Topic of the Day

is

"Cemetery"

photos taken by Charles Tinley

The Potters Graves from the Eastern Shore State Hospital.

The original granite marker was placed in this spot in 1986 by the ESHC Auxiliary stating - -

"In remembrance of the residents laid to rest here from 1935 to 1962."

"All God's Children"

An additional plaque was added in a 1999 rededication  by

The Harold M. English Foundation.

It states - -

"198 rest here"

The Eastern Shore State Hospital for the Insane, located at Cambridge, Md., opened in May 1915

The physical growth of hospital buildings continued for several decades and the average daily population increased steadily to 675-680 patients in 1956. By the early 1970s, the patient census had dropped to approximately 420, primarily due to a focused effort on deinstitutionalization.

On July 1, 1973, the Eastern Shore State Hospital became known as the Eastern Shore Hospital Center (ESHC). ESHC has been fully accredited since May 1967. In November 1993, the hospital moved from assigning patients to their units by geography to a treatment oriented system. In the mid-1990s, the hospital’s site was considered for public economic development. In order to allow for development while continuing to provide necessary mental health services, another site of land was purchased and funding was appropriated to build a new ESHC.

The original 351 acre hospital and it's 38 buildings were demolished in 1999. The land that the hospital once sat on is now a golf course and The Chesapeake Bay Hyatt hotel resort.