John H. Wilson, Admin. Asst. 1920 to 1949 with his Mother, Adaline Wilson about 1930

 

Ridge Home

Above article found in family papers. No date or newspaper source.

 Ethel Dark

History of Jefferson County, Colorado 1939

COLORADO STATE HOME & TRAINING SCHOOL FOR MENTAL DEFECTIVES

The Colorado State Board of Charities and Correction recommended the establishment of a state instutution for the proper care of the mental defective population of Colorado as early as 1892. Similar recommendations were repeated each year until 1908. Gov. Burchtel, in his inaugural address in 1907, called
attention to the responsibility of the state in regard to caring for this unfortunate class. Because of a campaign waged by Mr. James Williams of Denver, a bill providing for the establishment of a Colorado State Home & Training School for Mental Defectives was introduced in the Seventeenth Colorado General Assembly. The bill, sponsored by Senators John S. Irby, James C. Burger, and Thomas J. Ehrhart, was passed and approved by Gov. Shafroth on  May 5, 1909.

{1} Three hundred and ten acres at Ridge, about two miles west of Arvada , was selected as the location for the home. The first building was completed in 1910.

{2} By 1936 the fourth and last building was finished, which gave the school a capacity of 300 patients. The first inmate arrived in July, 1912, two days after the school had been opened. The enrollment in 1939 was 260 patients. There is little change in the population of the school, because the inmates are committed for life. Occasionally a patient is removed to the home of a relative or sent to the insane asylum at Pueblo, Colorado. The only other agency of removal is death. A school is maintained for those who are capable of learning anything. Some of the farm work is carried on quite efficiently by the inmates under supervision, but many of them are not capable of doing anything. The patients require the care of a staff of thirty employees. Dr. H.A. Lamore is the present superintendent. The steward, Mr. J.H. Wilson, has charge of  all the property and records, which show the annual per capita cost is something over $200. As a result of the  efforts of Simon Guggenheim, a separate post office was established at the Colorado State Home and Training School for Mental Defectives at Ridge, Colorado.

Funds for operation of the Colorado State Home for Mental Defectives have been diverted to the old age pension, and this institution, along with others, has taken a cut in the form of understaffed operation and closing  of units and activities in general.


1- Fist Biennial Report, Colorado State Home and Training School for Mental Defectives, 1909, p. 7.
2- Ibid., p. 10.

STATE HOME AND TRAINING SCHOOL FOR MENTAL DEFECTIVES

Ridge, Colorado

Employee List, as of July 1, 1947