Many of the Commonwealth institutions for the developmentally delayed and the mentally ill at the time were designed with tunnel systems, to be self-sufficient in wintertime. Demolition was done by Testa Corp. of Wakefield, Massachusetts. The Danvers State Hospitals tainted history has found its way into several pop-culture mediums such as movies, video games, comic books, and Lovecraftian novels. Batavia, Illinois Batavia Depot Museum An exhibit of items. The hospital is now a condo complex, but these tunnels are about a mile away. Plans for the other sections of the property include a golf course or open green space. The Danvers State Hospital remained abandoned for 13 years as it continued to fall into disrepair. Located in Danvers and first opened in 1878, the Danvers Lunatic Asylum (as it was also called) was an isolated and almost totally self-sufficient hospital. The historic Kirkbride was also demolished, with only the outermost brick shell of the administration area (along with the G and D wards on each side) being propped up during demolition and construction while an entirely new structure was built behind and inside of it, leaving the historic Danvers Reservoir and the original brick shell. The Bonner medical building was built on the property the following year and was named after Bonner in honor of his service to the hospital. Visit this site's About page to find out more about Rebecca. Now I feel said for the poor patients that lived there. Much of the wood from the demolition project was salvaged and recycled into flooring and other millwork.[5]. It was a multi-acre, self-contained psychiatric hospital designed and built according to the Kirkbride Plan. One building remains unused and has partially collapsed but the plot of land it is located on is currently for sale by the state. Construction of the Gothic-style building, made from locally-sourced red Danvers brick, began on May 1, 1874 and took four years to complete at a cost of $1.5 million, during a time when much of the country was still recovering from the financial strain of the Civil War. This sparked controversy. The graveyard on the grounds was the only place that kept up with the demand of the increase in patients. Occupational therapy and sedative forms of hydrotherapy have also contributed to this program . Danvers State Hospital was originally called the State Lunatic Asylum at Danvers (a cheerful name, for sure). 1902 - one story brick Surgery Building with hipped roof and segmental arched windows to the front The hospital was based on the Kirkbride plan and originally consisted of a three story brick building that could house 250 patients. The number of patients grew to over 2,000 while the size of the staff remained relatively the same. Danvers was a success at first. If the name Arkham sounds familiar, DC Comics latched onto the name and created Arkham Asylum as the backdrop for where Batmans ultra-psychotic villains come from. Neurology experts often called Danvers State Hospital the birthplace of the prefrontal lobotomy. The moniker came from its widespread use, but also from the procedures refinement at the hospital. Philadelphia: 1854.Third Annual Report of the State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity of Massachusetts. It's a different, more in depth, creepier tnnel that goes all the way up the hill to the asylum before it is blocked off. Worcester State Hospital was an abandoned state hospital that has since been mostly demolished. The administration building, which is located in Waltham, remains abandoned. One patient who was there, Anna Jennings, told her doctor that she had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child. The Danvers State Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located in Danvers, Massachusetts. A hospital cemetery was also established on the grounds in 1878. Reports were made[who?] Rebecca is a freelance journalist and history lover who got her start in journalism working for small-town newspapers in Massachusetts and New Hampshire after she graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a B.A. [1], On June 27, 2014, Avalon Bay Communities, Inc,. in journalism. I dont think you can access them. Danvers State Hospital was famous for many things such as its design, treatment of patients and legends surrounding the site. It was built in 1874, and opened in 1878, under the supervision of prominent Boston architect Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee, on an isolated site in rural Massachusetts. In 1994, the hospital was added to the National Register of Historic places and it officially closed its doors on April 3, 2003. Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Mass, circa 2013. By the 1930s, the hospital started to suffer from severe overcrowding and a lack of funding. Insane asylums are now called mental or psychiatric hospitals. The hospital featured a main building, where the administration offices were located, with four wings radiating off both sides of the structure. The facility that once housed Danvers State Hospital is now home to a residential community featuring fully renovated apartments. But after living there for a few years, some of these children started to suffer from mental health issues. It was originally built to house 500 patients, but by the 1940s it had over 2,000 patients. At least the patients didnt complain, because many of them just stared blankly at walls. Built 1871 Architect Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee Architectural style Gothic NRHP reference No. They lived in their own filth from a lack of basic hygiene. In 1941, The Telegraph newspaper reported that a large fire broke out in one of the barns on the hospital grounds and caused one of the greatest traffic jams in the Newburyport turnpike history when an estimated 10,000 people attempted to reach the hospital because they thought it was on fire and wanted to watch the blaze. Like so many asylums, Forest Haven quickly became overcrowded and understaffed. The overall design, as seen from the air, looked like a bat in mid-flight. 2 eniugcm 9 yr. ago Yea, I knew they were all condos now. In 1910, the hospital changed its name to the Foxborough State Hospital as it began to transition more towards treating mentally ill patients instead of alcoholics. Incorporated in 1884, the Westborough State Hospital was originally known as the Westborough Insane Hospital. Originally constructed in 1878, the Danvers State Hospital opened under the original name of the Danvers Lunatic Asylum. Another difficult group to treat were those suffering from intemperance and dipsomania the nineteenth-century terms for substance abuse, or the ancient enemy, as administrators called it. In 1948, the first lobotomy was performed at the hospital and in the 1950s electric shock therapy was introduced. If children or patients bit another person, they got a warning the first time, but the second they did it they got all their teeth extracted. One of the unique things about this facility is the underground tunnels that connect all the buildings. Danvers State Hospital, originally known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers, is significant in both architectural and social history. For more information on Forest Haven Asylum, check out this website. People werent being cured. In December 2005, the property was sold to AvalonBay Communities, a residential apartment developer. In the fall of 1990, the Massachusetts Association of Mental Health published a working paper suggesting that three state hospitals, Danvers, Metropolitan, and Northampton, were prime candidates for closure. The property also had an administration building, medical-surgical facility, staff housing, morgue and a power plant. It was designed by a Boston architect named Nathaniel Bradlee, who was responsible for the famous Jordan Marsh store in Boston as well as Boston's Downtown Crossing. . [1], The Danvers State Hospital was officially opened in 1878 after four years of construction. After venturing inside the tormented history of Danvers State Hospital, see these haunting photos taken inside asylums of decades past. The Grafton State Hospital was an abandoned state hospital that has since been partially demolished and re-purposed as educational and employment facilities. Entire wards were closed down one by one and patients were shipped off to other facilities when the Department of Mental Health began the process of deinstitutionalizing its state hospitals. Opened in Pennsylvania in 1908, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was a home for mentally ill people and orphans. By 1901, the number of patients had dramatically increased to 1,137. And we and our progeny are the losers. Designed in 1874 by noted Boston architect, N.J. Bradlee, it is a handsome and intact implementation of the nationally recognized Kirkbride plan. it took my aunt 2 weeks to get her out of that place. What might have been a dignified transformation of a magnificent structure which was originally built to serve the best intentions, but at times lost its way through human frailty, now is a mere ghost-image of itself. Basement 'Tunnel' prev | next Danvers State Hospital Page. Jun 13, 2014 - The tunnels under Danvers State Mental Hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts. Then read about the real horror story of Bedlam, the Bethlam Royal Hospital. They also originally offered workforce training to patients. Bonnes left his position at the hospital in January of 1988 when the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health found evidence of lapses in security at the hospital as a result of that incident and another incident in which a female patient was raped by a male patient in a womans restroom. Lovecrafts horror short story The Thing on the Doorstep. Danvers State Hospital opened in 1878 near Boston, MA. In 1978, the hospitals former administration building was partially demolished and re-purposed as a veterinary school known as the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. One of the common atrocities that happened at Pennhurst was teeth extraction. We just went to see if it were true, and there it was! However, its reputation remains. When the first patient was admitted on May 13, 1878, the Danvers Lunatic Hospital, as it was originally called, was a one-of-a-kind facility. This is primarily due to a deinstitutionalization movement that began in the 1960s which was spurred by three factors: the belief that asylums were cruel and inhumane, improvements in psychiatric medications and the desire to reduce state and federal spending. In 1954, Dr. Clarence Bonner retired as superintendent. Some of the treatments that were performed on patients were shock therapy, lobotomies, and straightjackets. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Visit this site's About page to find out more about Rebecca. Danvers State Hospital was originally called the State Lunatic Asylum at Danvers (a cheerful name, for sure). Address: 45 Hospital Road, Medfield, Mass. Explore. The Danvers State Hospital, also known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers, The Danvers Lunatic Asylum, and The Danvers State Insane Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital located in Danvers, Massachusetts. A total of 278 people died at the hospital that year. Wikimedia Commons Danvers as it stands today, a much more cheerful place. I haven't been able to stay at my house for over a week because of increased paranormal activity. in journalism. Here is another website with more information on the grisly details of patients abuse. Perhaps the tormented spirits of the dead put a curse on the place. A century later, it was criticized (like so many others like it) for it's overcrowding and maltreatment of patients. The hospital closed in 1992 and remained abandoned until each of the three towns the hospital is located in began redevelopment plans for their section of the property. Some of the other buildings on the property have been demolish while others have been renovated and re-purposed. However, the buildings dark past make it one of the creepiest monuments to insane asylums in the world. Shock therapy and straight jackets became the norm. Danvers State Hospital illustration circa 1875. 2156. e1savage (Atlas Obscura User) Danvers State Hospital opened in 1878 as a mental health hospital, serving some 600 patients under its imposing gothic spires. None of them had mental health issues. Dr. Calvin S. May was appointed Superintendent through 1880. If youve already watched the film, youll very well know how it makes a whole new character out of its location. 2010, telegram.com/article/20100411/NEWS/4110497Preer, Robert. The living spaces couldnt keep up with the demand of people being admitted to the facility. It's a different, more in depth, creepier tnnel that goes all. I always dreaded theese visits. I remember visiting my great grandpa there.i was really young. Perhaps that dark history cursed the building that currently sits on Hathorne Hill. As terrifying as the films mental hospital setup may seem, youll be surprised to know that the films real filming location, Danvers State Hospital, has a very dark past of its own. There was a tunnel that ran from a steam/power generating plant (which still exists to provide service to the Hogan Regional Center) located at the bottom of the hill running up to the hospital, along with tunnels that connected the male and female nurses homes, the "Gray Gables", Bonner Medical Building, machine shops, pump house, and a few others. When patients died, they were thrown into an unmarked mass grave on the grounds. Wikimedia Commons Danvers State Hospital in 1893. For more information about the court case, check out this website. In January,1878 Calvin S. May was appointed its first Superintendent. Im not sure but I think employment records are confidential. Well, youll be surprised to know how realistic the movies filming location is. The building remains abandoned but is still standing. . In 1939, it was renamed the Tewksbury State Hospital and Infirmary and in 1959 it became the Tewksbury Hospital, which it remains today. Im not surprised that it is haunted. The asylum at Danvers was structured in this Kirkbride framework by architect Nathaniel J. Bradlee. Built in 1874, the Danvers State Hospital was known as the Danvers Lunatic Hospital until it changed its name to the Danvers Insane Hospital sometime before the turn of the century and then changed it again to the Danvers State Hospital in 1909. This guy could have been in management. I plan to go back and find more (if there are any more) The design supposedly helped draw breezes through the entire facility. In 2018, Arcadia Publishing published the book Danvers State Hospital as part of its Images of America series. The hospital closed its doors in 1973. Danvers State Hospital Kirkbride Complex circa 1893. In 2007, most of the buildings were demolished by the Avalon Bay Communities. But whatever you call them, most people associate these places with creepiness and fear. Built in 1874 and opening in 1878, the Danvers State Hospital was under a prominent architect from Boston, Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee. Touch device users, explore by touch . This did not stop the process, however, and demolition of most of the buildings began in January 2006, with the intent to build 497 apartments on the 77-acre (310,000m2) site. Many patients would just vanish. It wasnt until 1994 that the hospital was shut down. In 1998, the Danvers State Memorial Committee, a mental health advocacy group composed of former Danvers State Hospital patients, was created to identify the names of the hundreds of former patients buried anonymously in the Danvers State Hospital cemetery. Lovecraft used Danvers as the inspiration for his Arkham Sanitarium. Im told that a portion of this building was a reform school. In 1914, the alcoholic patients were moved to a new facility in Norfolk (Pondville State Hospital) and the Foxborough State Hospital became a psychiatric hospital. After having just watched Session 9 yesterday, for the first time, I knew immediately I wanted to do a piece on the building used in the film. Back then, the tall Romanesque spires of the bat-shaped building housed close to 600 patients. In the 1980s other accounts of abuse towards patients resurfaced from Byberry. Portions of Danvers State Hospital were shut down in 1969. According to a book by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride, a physician and mental health advocate who created an institutional model for mental health hospitals in the 19th century, called the Kirkbride Plan, the location and surroundings of such hospitals was essential to their success: It is now well established that this class of hospitals should always be located in the country, not within less than two miles of a town of considerable size, and they should be easily accessible at all seasons. Kirkbride goes on to say that such hospitals require at least 100 acres of land necessary for farming and gardening as well as for privacy, exercise, labor and occupation for the patients which are now recognized as among the most valuable means of treatment (Kirkbride 7). Powered by WordPress.com VIP. The only part of the building that remains are the wings that were attached to the administrative building, which are now used as a correctional facility for juveniles with a history of mental illness and violent behavior. To make the setting even more disturbing, the psychiatric facility was built in the town of Danvers, once known as Salem Village until 1752. "DSF Group buys Danvers apartment complex for $108.5m", A Firsthand Account of Danvers State Hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital Cape Cod, VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System, Northampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Benjamin Stickney Cable Memorial Hospital, New England Hospital for Women and Children, U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts, History of the National Register of Historic Places, National Register of Historic Places portal, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Danvers_State_Hospital&oldid=1148666524, Demolished buildings and structures in Massachusetts, Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts, Buildings and structures in Danvers, Massachusetts, National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts, Buildings and structures demolished in 2007, Short description is different from Wikidata, All articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from September 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The hospital was the setting for the 2001 horror film, The Danvers State Hospital is believed by literary historians to have served as inspiration for the infamous Arkham sanatorium from, The American Historical Society Inc. (1935), This page was last edited on 7 April 2023, at 15:39. With its harrowing shots of long dark corridors, chilling underground tunnels, and abutting shots of a massive mental hospital, 'Session 9' (2001) not only scares you with its scintillating psychological horror but also with its purposefully disturbing mise-en-scne. as an aside, when i was growing up and in college my church group and college sorority held parties for the patients at Eastern State Hospital, the oldest stat hospital in the country, i believe. In 1992, the facility shut down for good. I dont know anyone could not just live there but work there as well. 276. The design of the hospital was based on the Kirkbride plan and totaled 313,000 square feet in size and 1,100 feet in length. The patients regimen involved exercise and the creation of elaborate gardens. Middleton Pond supplied the hospital its water. Danvers State Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts, USA and opened in 1878 at a cost of $1.5 million. - YouTube (I have an even better Danvers State tunnel video on my channel as well. Jun 13, 2014 - The tunnels under Danvers State Mental Hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts. Forest Haven Asylum was first opened up in 1925. Massachusetts is Under Criticism for Poor Care of Mentally Ill, New York Times, 21 Aug. 1988, www.nytimes.com/1988/08/21/us/massachuetts-is-under-criticism-for-poor-care-of-the-mentally-ill.htmlThe Essex Institute Historical Collections Vol XLVIII-1912. Nurses would pull and drag patients by their hair. of corse over the years i would hear the about the things that went on there. Danvers State Hospital | Danvers State Insane Asylum | DSH HISTORY "The hospital opened on May 1st, 1878 and Dr. Calvin S. May was appointed Superintendent through 1880" IMAGES "Abandoned since 1992 and demolished in 2006, the Danvers State Hospital once occupied a site of over 500 acres" ARCHIVES Danvers State Hospital was the inspiration for the notorious horror writer and occultist, H. P. Lovecraft's Arkham Sanitarium in his 1933 story 'The Thing on the Doorstep', and the Arkham Asylum of Batman fame is an identical replica. In 2007, the part of the hospital in Lexington was purchased by Avalon Bay in 2007 and re-purposed as luxury apartments. The hospital quickly became overcrowded and a new hospital, the Worcester State Hospital, was built in 1876 based on the Kirkbride plan. In 2005, redevelopment of the property began and some of the buildings were demolished to make way for a shopping plaza while the main building was re-purposed as luxury condominiums. Did they lose money or show positive cash flow? My grandmother Charlotte McIntyre worked and lived at the Colony which was one of the nursing homes that was separate. Fortunately, Hathorne Hill met all of these requirements, as it was the site of a large farm in the countryside on a scenic hill yet it was in close proximity to Salem and Boston and nearby railroads and good roads. Address: 1 Prince Street, Northampton, Mass. 2006, opacity.us/article44_state_vows_clean_sweep_to_keep_records_out_of_wrong_hands.htmMental Hospital Administrator Had Problems Back East. Moscow-Pullman, 20 Nov. 1990, news.google.com/newspapers?id=t5MrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vdAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6320%2C2763883Avert Panic of Mental Patients. The Telegraph, 13 Feb. 1941, news.google.com/newspapers?id=6oxAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=r6QMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5528%2C3083941Bonner, C.A. His tunnels have thought to have been constructed so . Built in 1874, the Danvers State Hospital was known as the Danvers Lunatic Hospital until it changed its name to the Danvers Insane Hospital sometime before the turn of the century and then changed it again to the Danvers State Hospital in 1909. There were always sewer problems, lack of central heating, hardly any toilet paper, and the rooms were never cleaned. One of the unique things about this facility is the underground tunnels that connect all the buildings. I have written a novel based around her time thete and meeting my grandfather who lived on Liberty hill. . Administrators begged the state for money to build more rooms and hire more staff, to no avail. It wouldnt be until 1996 when the hospital was finally shut down. Former Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Mass, in 2013. At the present, the Danvers State Hospital in now Bradlee Danvers apartments. Construction on Danvers State Hospital started in 1874 and the first patients moved in sometime in 1878. These five mental institutions live up to the name of creepiness and horror. 2010,www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/06/10/danvers_state_redevelopment_forging_ahead_in_slow_economy/Roy, Mathew K. Change Atop Hathorne Hill. Salem News, Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company, 5 Jan. 2007Danvers State Hospital. Opacity, opacity.us/site22_danvers_state_hospital.htmDanvers State Hospital. Danvers Archival Center, Peabody Institute Library, www.danverslibrary.org/archive/?page_id=1096Danvers State Hospital. Kirkbride Buildings, www.kirkbridebuildings.com/buildings/danvers/History. Danvers State Insane Asylum, www.danversstateinsaneasylum.com/historyEx-Patient Is State Hospital Official. New York Times, New York Times Company, 27 Nov. 1988, www.nytimes.com/1988/11/27/us/ex-patient-is-state-hospital-official.htmlHistory of Essex County, Massachusetts; Volume 1. Essex Institute, 1912.The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Annual Report of the Trustees of the Danvers State Hospital for the year ending November 20, 1939. Often referred to today as "the Witches' Castle on the Hill", Danvers State Lunatic Asylum was built in 1878 on a site which was originally in Salem Village - the first actual location of the Salem Witch Trials in 1962. Share Patients were soon subjected to special garments, presumably straitjackets, as a means of control. Lovecraft's novel, Arkham Sanitarium , and Batman's Arkham . I would appreciate any records of his service, including photographs. It caused some reforms, but it would be another event that caused the closure of Pennhurst. But some difficult patient populations brought problems with them. That is, if patients could express their thoughts after having a portion of their brain ripped out during surgery. To this day people will find teeth laying about throughout the building. The facilities slated for closure were: Danvers State Hospital, Northampton State Hospital, Metropolitan State Hospital, Paul A. Dever State School, John T. Berry School, Foxborough campus of Wrentham State School, Cushing Hospital, Lakeville Hospital and Rutland Heights Hospital. "Four-alarm fire ravages former state mental hospital," Boston Globe, 7 April 2007. The hospital was a mental health facility built in the year 1874 that consisted of. The rooms were cold because there was no central heating. It was part of the countrywide concept at least in the late 1800s that people with psychological problems needed to be cured inside specially made facilities. [7] The DSF Group released plans for the property to undergo further renovations.[7]. This asylum is famous for inspiring H.P. Sources:Yohanna, Daniel. My grandfather apparently went to it maybe during the 40s? Place was creepy even now. Address: Corner of Chestnut and Main Sts., Foxborough, Mass. My grandmother lived there until she died. Sometime before the turn of the century the hospital changed its name to the Danvers Insane Hospital. Gothic spires rose from eight wings that radiated from a 130 foot central tower. Danvers State Hospital was one of many hospitals built in Massachusetts during the industrial revolution. The Plymouth County Hospital: A Story of What It Once Was. The Hanson Tunk, Hanson Historical Society Newsletter, Summer 2013, hansonhistoricalsociety.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/tunksummer2013.pdfDeSorgher, Richard. By 1900, Danvers State Hospital employed 125 people and had treated more than 9,500 patients since opening. But as time went on, Forest Haven became an atrocious place for the patients that lived there.
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