Joseph R. Anderson (1813-1892) was a Confederate Brigadier General during the American Civil War. He gained his commission by attending the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, where upon graduation he was assigned as an officer for the 3rd United States Artillery. While with the unit, he was recognized for his engineering capabilities and then was transferred to the Army Corps of Engineers. Realizing he would be better suited to work in engineering outside the military, Anderson left the army to become chief engineer at Valley Turnpike Company and later the Tredgar Iron Company in Richmond, Virginia. He offered his services to the Confederacy when the American Civil War broke out in 1861 and commanded forces in Willmington, North Carolina and led forces against the Union during the Penninsula Campaign in 1862.

External sources:

"Joseph Reid Anderson", findagrave.com https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/4656/joseph-reid-anderson, accessed on June 5, 2023.

Originally called the Western State Lunatic Asylum, the Western Lunatic Asylum was a hospital for the mentally ill in Staunton, Virginia, opening in 1828. In its early years, the institution was a resort-style asylum, directed under Dr. Francis T. Stribling. Dr. Stribling promoted a clean, healthy, and kind atmosphere that would aid in the healing process of his patients. While Dr. Stribling was the director of the hospital, patients were well cared for and treated with respect.

This model of care vanished in the 1900s, replaced by the overcrowding and the warehousing of patients. Techniques such as physical restraints and straitjackets were then used. After the passage of the Eugenical Sterilization Act of 1924 in Virginia, patients at the Western Lunatic Asylum were sterilized (sometimes forcibly) under the authorization of Joseph DeJarnette, a noted eugenicist. He was the director of the hospital from 1905 to 1943, implementing much stricter and harsher practices than his predecessor. Electroshock therapy and lobotomies were also practiced at the institution.

The hospital moved to its present site off of Interstate 81, and the property remained vacated until it was converted in the 1970s into the Staunton Correctional Center, a men's penitentiary. The prison closed in 2003, and the site was then left vacant again for several years. In 2005, the state of Virginia gave the property to the Staunton Industrial Authority, and the facility has now been converted into condominiums called The Villages at Staunton.