Mills Building, South Carolina State Hospital, formerly known as the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, is a building designed by Robert Mills

Robert Mills (architect)

Robert Mills , most famously known for designing the Washington Monument, is sometimes called the first native born American to become a professional architect, though Charles Bulfinch perhaps has a clearer claim to this honor...

 in Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

.

Although it has not had mental patients since 1937, the National Park Service states: "Constructed between 1822 and 1827, this is the oldest building in the country to be used continuously as a mental institution and one of the first mental hospitals built with public funds."

It was declared a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

 in 1973.

Additions to the building were designed by Samuel Sloan.

External links

• South Carolina State Hospital, Mills Building, Richland County (2100 Bull St., Columbia), with 20 photos, at South Carolina Department of Archives and History
• Lunatic Asylum: 19 photos, 10 data pages, at Historic American Building Survey