The most prominent road traveled was an old Iroquois warpath and colonial wagon trail that became the Valley Turnpike in the 1830s.

Travel for Americans became "swifter, safer, and more convenient" and the increase in traffic through Staunton helped development and allowed easy transportation of patients throughout the state.

In 1828, the ground's location was on the outskirts of Staunton, but still very close to the downtown district and some residential areas.

However, by the mid-19th century, this utopian model of care had vanished, replaced by overcrowding in the facility and the warehousing of patients.

[8] Western State was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1969, but vacated the property in the 1970s when the hospital moved to its present site near Interstate 81.