Adams-Nervine Asylum
- Architect
- J. Pickering Putnam
- City
- Boston, MA
The Adams-Nervine Asylum was incorporated in 1877 and opened in 1880 on a picturesque Jamaica Plain estate beside Bussey Park and the Arnold Arboretum. It was funded by a $600,000 bequest from Seth Adams, who made his fortune refining sugar in South Boston and manufacturing printing presses with his brother Isaac, to establish a curative institution for indigent, debilitated, and nervous people who were not insane.
the building
Kirkbride-inspired care. The asylum's design was meant to embody the theories of Philadelphia psychiatrist Thomas Kirkbride, who advocated a home-style atmosphere, non-isolation, and the dignity of patients over institutional confinement.
Beside the Arboretum. The estate sat on Centre Street next to Bussey Park and the Arnold Arboretum, a deliberately picturesque setting reflecting the era's belief in landscape as part of treatment.
significance
The estate was vacated in 1976 and left to The Adams Trust; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Boston Landmark.
nearby
- First Church of Jamaica Plain
- District 13 Police Station
- Bowditch School
- Brandegee Estate
- George R. Minot House
- Roslindale Substation