It opened on April 20, 1874, and was the first purely homeopathic hospital for mental disorders in the United States.

The push for a state homeopathic institution for the treatment of mental disorders began in 1866 when John Stanton Gould delivered a speech to the State Homeopathic Medical Society entitled The Relation of Insanity to Bodily Disease.

In this speech, Gould asserted that "It has been my purpose in this address, gentlemen, to bring before you in a clear and specific form the proofs that insanity is always a symptom of bodily disease which it is your duty and ought to be your pleasure to cure.

His treatment included art exhibitions, an institutional newsletter written by the patients (The Conglomerate), and athletics.

[7] The facility, located in Orange Country,[4] was previously known as Middletown State Hospital for the Insane.

[11] While superintendent of the hospital, Seldon H. Talcott began using a range of physical activity as treatment for mental disorders.