Rockhaven Sanitarium’s 95th Birthday – Realizing A Dream in Verdugo City

In January 1923, a young nurse named Agnes Richards came to the Crescenta Valley following a dream. She dreamed of a sanctuary for women with mental illness. She had worked her way up in some of the toughest mental hospitals around, from a military hospital treating severely shell-shocked WWI vets to the psych ward at LA County Hospital. She had come up the hard way, starting as a servant in an insane asylum and working her way up to head nurse.

In her time working in with the mentally challenged, she had witnessed some true horror stories. It was disturbingly easy to commit someone to an insane asylum back then, particularly women. Women were regularly committed for alcohol abuse, menopause, promiscuity or depression or by husbands who just wanted their wives out of the way. Once inside the walls, those who were sane going in wouldn’t remain so for long. The abuse was indescribable. Violence by staff or fellow inmates, rape by male orderlies and doctors, confinement, starvation and hopelessness made life a living hell for women.

After so many years of being a party to this, Agnes had had enough. She wanted to create a hospital just for women where they would be treated with dignity and respect. She was strong and experienced, and she would make sure that there was no abuse, no hopelessness for her patients.

On a sunny January day, she arrived in the Crescenta Valley, an area known for its sanitariums. She located a two-story house on Honolulu Avenue, just a block from where workers were busily constructing the town center for the new community of Verdugo City. The house she found was made of local rock and, since it was to be a haven for women, Agnes named it Rockhaven. Starting with just six mentally challenged female patients, Agnes charted her course of treatment. The “ladies” (for they were never called “patients” by Agnes and her all-female staff) would be encouraged to get outside and to take part in daily activities such as crafts and gardening. They were dressed nicely and treated politely. It was all about respect.

The progressive and humane treatment these women received soon got the attention of others, and Agnes’ business began to grow. She began to buy adjacent houses and convert them into facilities for more residents. Soon Agnes was building new buildings custom designed for her style of therapy. She constructed gardens and interconnecting paths to encourage her residents to be outside in the sun. Eventually she had acquired 3½ acres of land around her original rock house, and had 14 buildings for her 100-some ladies. When Agnes finally retired, she was able to hand the business off to her granddaughter who ran it for many more years, until it finally closed in 2006. It was saved from the wrecking ball by the City of Glendale.

Rockhaven Sanitarium served the needs of mentally challenged women for well over 80 years here in our valley. It was an unusual haven for this often-abused segment of our society, unusual in the sense that these vulnerable women were treated with dignity and respect, treated as family members by the staff. But it stands abandoned today, its hallways empty and dark.

For the last three years, the Friends of Rockhaven have tried to bring life back to Rockhaven. Volunteers weeded its gardens and swept its floors, and have conducted tours for interested community groups. As well, they’ve promoted its noble history. They’ve enlisted a professional writer who is working on a book called “Rockhaven Sanitarium” due to come out early next year.

I’ve written many stories about both sides of our history, the good and the bad, but the story of Rockhaven Sanitarium is firmly in the good category. Of all the many fascinating tales of the Crescenta Valley’s past, the history of Rockhaven Sanitarium is perhaps the most noble and beautiful of them all.

It was 95 years ago this very month that Rockhaven was founded. Happy birthday to Rockhaven Sanitarium, one of Crescenta Valley’s best success stories.

  mike lawler