[2] An act of the Arkansas legislature in 1873 approved the purchase of land and construction of a building to serve people with mental illness in the state.

By 1936, the need for further expansion prompted the opening of the Benton Farm Colony, as it was then called, which was planned to hold about 2,000 inmates.

In 1959, the Arkansas Children's Colony (now known as the Conway Human Development Center) was established, which would be specifically for people with I/DD.

[6] Serial killer Donald Harding would spend four years bouncing between the hospital and several other facilities as a juvenile.

[3] In 2011, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid found substantial concerns for the life and safety of the patients, especially children, and threatened to withdraw federal funding.