On the Fourth of July in 1856 the 80th anniversary of our National Independence was celebrated with fireworks, parades, and by laying the cornerstone for the State Lunatic Hospital at Northampton. The Commonwealth’s third asylum for the insane would be built on 172 acres overlooking a beautiful but rural town of only six thousand four hundred and fifty five souls, many of whom decided to stay home that day under threat of rain.
The procession gathered downtown at the first congregational church and after prayer and song Dr. Edward Jarvis, architect of the Idiocy and Insanity report spoke on the need for asylums in a society whose toilings maddened minds. After the speech and a review of articles to be sealed within the asylum cornerstone for posterity seven firefighter companies, two bands, the Northampton Infantry Company, the Jerusalem Lodge of Masons escorting the Masonic Grand Lodge and a brief but fierce thunderstorm gathered together to march towards Hospital Hill.