- City:
- Foxboro, MA
- Site Type:
- Education and Health, Civic Facilities, Hospitals and Clinics
- New Deal Agencies:
- Public Works Funding, Public Works Administration (PWA)
- Quality of Information:
- Minimal
- Site Survival:
- No Longer Extant
Description
The former Foxboro State Hospital was greatly expanded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, with the aid of Federal funds, during the New Deal era. One Federal Public Works Administration-assisted project saw the construction of four buildings on the State Hospital campus, including the ‘day space building.’ This building is probably what was also known as Walnut Lodge.
Construction details: “masonry exterior bearing, steel and steel joist and concrete framing, wood pitched wood deck.” The Foxboro Reporter wrote that the building, “two stories and basement, 85 feet long and 28 feet wide, brick construction, with piazzas 53 feet long and 14 feet wide, will be erected at a cost of about $76,000.”
The building still stands and is currently in use as the Norcap Lodge, a rehabilitation facility located at 71 Walnut Street in Foxboro. A 1978 deed transferring the property from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health to Norwood Hospital refers to the property as the Walnut Lodge.
Source notes
"Building Bids Received"; The Foxboro Reporter, "Jun. 16, 1934 (page 1, column 5).
"Foxborough: Gem of Norfolk County" by Jack Anthelet, Foxborough Historical Commission, 2001 (page 144).
Norfolk County Registry of Deeds, Book 5477, Page 363 (September 8, 1978).
Site originally submitted by Evan Kalish on June 4, 2014.
Additional contributions by Leigh-Anne Sapienza.
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Diane Birch
My great aunt was in Walnut Lodge and am looking for information about when she passed away and where she is buried. Her name was Catherine ( she sometimes spelled it Katherine) Brown, maiden name MacIver.
Please advise where I might find that information.
Thank you,
Diane Birch