It was used as a general hospital then converted to house patients with mental disorders.
The original hospital was located at the edge of the Hilltop Reservation and designated a Conservation Easement in 2001 by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; the site now is part of the Essex County park system.
In 1896, a large portion of land was purchased by the City of Newark, New Jersey; the land was bought to build a new hospital to relieve pressure in the overcrowded Newark Hospital.
The Overbrook asylum ran on, adding several add-ons and new wards until its closure in the winter of 2007.
The new center takes a cutting edge approach to behavioral health care and its layout and programs stand in stark contrast to the hundred-year-old facility it replaced.