Godding Croft: A Hospital Farm, 1891-1965

William Godding, superintendent of St. Elizabeths during the late 1800s.

Library of Congress

In 1891, the federal government purchased the former DeButts property and the neighboring Berry farm. The property became part of the Government Hospital for the Insane, later known as St. Elizabeths Hospital. The hospital practiced Moral Treatment, which rejected dark cells and physical restraints in favor of clean, spacious, well-ventilated buildings located in peaceful, rural areas. Patients were treated with kindness and dignity and encouraged to occupy themselves with both work and leisure.Superintendent William Godding believed that farm work would benefit patients. Working outdoors, he wrote, was “preferable to listless mental decay in… wards…”. A less noble motive was financial considerations. An easy way for a public institution to save money was through unpaid patient labor, a practice that is now illegal.

 

The main building at St. Elizabeths Hospital in the early 1900s.

Library of Congress

St. Elizabeths operated the farm, known then as the Godding Croft, until 1965. Patients grew fruit and vegetables, cared for animals, and operated large dairy and poultry plants. The farmhouse that was once home to the DeButts family became a dormitory for patients and staff. Buildings constructed during this era include the hay barn, the feed barn, and the silo.

By the 1960s, St. Elizabeths was shrinking. With its population in decline, the hospital closed the Godding Croft and began obtaining food externally. The land was transferred to the National Park Service to become the Oxon Hill Children's Farm, which opened in 1967.

FYI: "Croft" is a Scottish word meaning a small farm.