I used to live just above the Riverview Hospital, which is the modern name of Essondale Hospital (originally named Hospital For The Mind). It is still in use these days, but with many fewer patients than before. Because it's an arboretum, it's a beautiful setting with many unusual trees. The property overlooks the Coquitlam River and Colony Farm (which used to be farmed by some of the patients and is now a Regional Park and also the site of a Forensic Psychiatric Institution). There is a garden on the Riverview grounds which was originally tended by patients. It has recently been restored. There are many of the older buildings which are now used mainly by film companies. I highly recommend a visit to the Riverview grounds, especially if you have a relative who was a resident there. You will be comforted to see that , no matter how they may have been burdened with mental illness, they were able to live in an area where there was great beauty. Hopefully, that helped bring some peace to them. “The Riverview lands are on a slope overlooking the Coquitlam River in Coquitlam, BC. They have become, through the course of nearly a century, a microcosm of British Columbia's natural and cultural history. In 1904, they were purchased by the provincial government and cleared of their ancient forest to create a hospital and haven for the mentally ill. Provincial Secretary, Henry Esson Young, envisioned a hospital as well as a provincial botanical garden on the site. Mr. Young had traveled extensively in England and Europe and brought the concept of the botanical garden from there. There were no botanical gardens anywhere in Canada at that time so the one he developed in BC was the first in Canada. He also initiated work on the nearby Colony Farm, which was to be a provincial experimental farm. Both the farm and the botanical garden were created to be adjuncts of a new provincial university. “ Pam (just tonight, I found a possible relative of mine in the 1901 census- I can't find her husband there but a woman of the right age & birthplace & with the right names is shown as being an insane asylum inmate in New Westminster District. I know she had a son in 1903 & she died in 1943 at her home- no mention on the death reg. of any mental problems, so it may be an example of someone who was temporarily in difficulty- severe depression, post-partum syndrome come to mind). Pam Fairweather Thomson Sechelt, BC, Canada [email protected]