Dixmont State was once known as the Department of the Insane in the Western Pennsylvania Hospital of Pittsburgh back when it was opened in 1862, with an initial population of 113 patients. It was one of the earlier asylums built on the Kirkbride plan, with three crooked wings stretching to each side of administration; one wing for male and the other for female patients. By the end of the 1800's, the resident population grew to over 1,200 and a nursing school was established in 1895. In 1907, the hospital legally separated from the Western Pennsylvania Hospital and became known as Dixmont Hospital for the Insane, named after Dorothea Dix, a pioneer in advocating the humane treatment of the mentally ill.