Southbury Training School Interactive Map
Scaffolding covers the front of the administration building at Southbury
Training School during construction in 1940. Gov. Raymond E. Baldwin
laid the cornerstone of the building. (Republican-American Archives)
Southbury Training School is a large residential facility in the towns of Southbury and Roxbury, Connecticut. It was built in the 1930s as a large state funded and operated residential and habilitative facility for adults with mental retardation. It consists of 150 buildings and structures situated on a campus of 1,600 acres (6.5 km2). It independently operates its own power, heat, sewage treatment, water, laundry, fire, ambulance, public safety, building maintenance, transportation and dietary services. It is run by the Connecticut Department of Mental Retardation. The facility is listed as historic district on the National Register of Historic Places. At one time, STS was home to a max population reaching 3000 residents and employed a staff of nearly 400. In 1986, admissions to STS were closed. There was a current population of 1,111. The Department of Mental Retardation was directed to attempt to place residents in group homes and other such settings. As of 2001, STS had 639 residents remaining. The average age was 55, and the average resident had been at STS for 43 years. The State intends to continue decreasing the number of residents through placement in other settings and through the death of residents.
(from Wikipedia with a few modifications)