Mimico Lunatic Asylum (Humber College Lakeshore Campus)

One of the oldest and interesting group of buildings in New Toronto are those of the Mimico Lunatic Asylum built in 1888 on the grounds of what is now now Humber's Lakeshore Campus. The hospital underwent several name changes over the years: opening as the Mimico Lunatic Asylum, then becoming the Mimico Hospital for the Insane in 1911. In 1919 it became the Ontario Hospital, New Toronto, and later renamed once more as the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital. 

The Mimico Lunatic Asylum was originally built to alleviate overcrowding at Toronto's Asylum on Queen Street West. It features several Romanesque buildings adapting a "cottage system" rather than the conventional singule large building for pyschiatric care. This arrangement, combined with the gardens and outdoor setting was considered a more therapeutic approach to providing plenty of space and open air for patients to recover from their maladies.

A featured landmark in Dorothy Ellen Palmer's When Fenelon Falls, the area is a designated heritage site and has been restored much to its former glory. It also plays a key role in local folklore regarding haunted sites of Toronto.  

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