The Kankakee State Hospital originally opened in 1879 as the Illinois Eastern Hospital for the Insane under the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities. Built by H.W.S. Cleveland in a Romanesque, Classical Revival style, Kankakee State Hospital was constructed under the Kirkbride Plan, which used a central steam plant for building heating that connected each building using underground utility tunnels similar to nearby Manteno State Hospital’s tunnels.