The school was established in 1906 by the state as its second institution for "
feeble-minded" children, after the
Fernald School in
Waltham. The latter school was instrumental in the school's early days, providing both staff and patients. School trustees purchased of land north of Wrentham center, which was later expanded to more than . Two farmhouses, dating to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, were adapted for early use, while the school's early buildings were built. Later adapted to house the superintendent and his assistant, one of them still stands at the junction of North and Dedham Streets. Through the 1920s the school expanded in size, building patient wards, employee housing, school facilities, and agricultural buildings to support the farm work some of the patients engaged in. By the end of
World War II, the school had a student population of about 2,000, over its nominal capacity of 1,800. It underwent further expansion in the 1950s, and reached a peak population of 2,163 in 1965. In 1975, the state was forced by legal action to shift away from institutional treatment of developmentally disabled people. The Superintendent, Dr. John D. Webster fought the cutbacks; but ultimately Governor
Michael Dukakis put an end to it and the school's population was reduced to 628 by 1989. Significant portions of the school's lands, mainly east of North Street and south of Emerald Street, have been adapted to other uses, as have portions of the surviving campus buildings. ==See also==