[1] Mayview State Hospital was opened in 1893 by the City of Pittsburgh under the name Marshalsea, after the famous London debtors' prison where Charles Dickens' father was once held.

[2] A night fire on July 31, 1907 that started by an overheated boiler in the laundry and bakehouse area, swept through the Poor Farm and Asylum, housing 900 patients.

The entire annex was ablaze when the first alarm was sounded, and fire-brigade worked with the limited supply of hose and water, while attendants began removing patients on their cots.

A heavy downpour of rain was of great assistance in controlling the fire which raged for three hours, till 1 o'clock a. m. The property loss was between $75,000 and $100,000.

[4] In 1917, Engineering News announced bids would be requested for construction on the property for use by a coal mine which fed a power plant that produced steam for heat and electricity .

[9][10] On February 21, 2008, a task force met at Mayview to discuss possible uses for the site after the hospital's closing.

[12] From August 2007 to December 2008, over 200 former patients were moved into community-based settings, most of which having 24-hour on-site support staff.