Quest for a Cure: Care and Treatment in Missouri's First State Mental Hospital

Short of funds, the legislature stipulated that the county pledging the most land and money to the project would host the new facility. When bids were opened in Boonville on July 13th, Callaway County won with a pledge of 500 acres of land and $11,500 in cash. To raise the money, citizens pledged $5, $25 or whatever they could afford to secure the asylum. Not trusting those small pledge-givers, the state required fifteen "responsible" Callawegians to sign a pledge, guaranteeing full payment of the $11,500.

"The town of Fulton is a beautiful village, containing a population of about 700 souls, the principal streets of which have been graded and macadamized, and has also within it 4 churches, one male and female academy, besides other schools. The location the commissioners look upon in a favorable light, and with the necessary means the grounds can be made indeed beautiful, and to answer all the purposes so essentially necessary for an institution of this character."

Report of the Commissioners to Locate Asylum, January 3, 1849

Map of Fulton, Missouri, 1876.
Kingdom of Callaway Historical Society