"It was not really barbaric - they were not shut in and forgotten - they were moved to a clean room every twelve hours - there was no medication - there was nothing else we could do."

(Nurse Helen Reilly Ngaere Thompson) Land was acquired in 1884 for a hospital farm that would offer 'work therapy' to relieve overcrowding at Wellington's Mount View Lunatic Asylum.

[3] Construction of a one storied 7,000 square feet (650 m2) building containing 24 apartments, H Ward, began in 1886.

[5] In the early 1900s, the facility had 2000 staff and patients, affording a major effect on the Wellington Region's development.

In 1980, the Puketiro Centre operated as a regional base for children with developmental problems.