 The Western Pennsylvania Hospital at Pittsburgh ended its first year of operation in 1853, and it was evident that there were a greater number of patients in jails and almshouses than could be provided for in the 26 beds designated for that express purpose at the hospital.Managers of the hospital used a $10,000 appropriation from the state to purchase a large amount of farmland on a hill overlooking the Ohio River to the north of Pittsburgh in what is now suburban Kilbuck.Planners originally wanted to build the institution in the city, but this idea was rejected by Dorothea Dix.