I'm proud to serve as a volunteer Catholic hospital minister today at Pennsylvania Hospital here in Philly. I've met with patients in the psych ward, it's a challenging environment, but it's heartening to report that conditions are indeed much more humane now.
They certainly did have the architectural beauty. I worked in one of these buildings, there was a former greenhouse on the roof, fireplaces in the rooms, a ballroom, 9 hole golf course.
I grew up on the grounds of the Warren State Hospital in Warren, PA where my father was an administrator. The main hospital (a Kirkbride building) was known as the Center Building. Was quite an experience growing up on the grounds of a working mental hospital.
I was just about to post that Warren is still alive and kicking. My last family member to work there just retired after 42 years I think it was. I worked for an outpatient clinic/organization that rented out part of the old nurses dorm. I'm sure you have some amazing memories from there.
And here we are, back at square one, with our mentally ill on the streets and in the jails and prisons. *Sigh* When I went to nursing school, the Colorado State Hospital was still a going concern, with many buildings and different types of wars, including elderly/dementia care. Within a decade or so, the patients were dispersed, many to nursing homes, some back to their families, many ending up on the streets.
Challenge seems to be coming to grips with the causes, even within the patient. We get ushered into this world system often emotionally unprepared and down the line, some crash on that account. Parents who raise their children to avoid their feelings are big precursors to this. It's quite a journey of discovery, pain, and shedding false beliefs.
Completely agree. Living in our so-called compassionate times and with so many people who are feeble and/or with mental illness being just cast out into the world and not being cared for, we have regressed as a society. Yet the politicians keep getting richer and these unfortunate people with real needs are tossed aside and ignored in so many ways. This is not a conservative vs. progressive issue. It is a responsible society vs. irresponsible society matter. Responsible society is losing.
so true!!!! when i went to jail.. i was amazed by what i witnessed . half the people are actually deeply mentally ill jusy stuck in a cycle ... the guards love to abuse the shit out of schizophrenics. made me sick to my stomach
Mr. Lance, I must say that not only do you consistently come up with really great stories, you are more reliable than the Energizer Bunny. Well done, Sir!
The original Athens State Hospital in Ohio is a Kirkbride plan building. It was set on acres of beautiful treed paths and gardens beside a small river. Externally, the buildings are beautiful. The tunnels beneath them are haunted. Today, a new hospital sits across the river. Ohio University owns the original hospital as various administrative buildings called The Ridges.
I went to Western Michigan University in the early 90's I would frequently drive by the Kalamazoo State Hospital, which was also built under the Kirkbride plan. The place looked massive. From what I understand, in the early years of the Reagan Administration, some of the patients had to be released due to states - instead of the Federal government - providing funding. Many locals told me Kalamazoo had a problem for several years with mentally ill homeless people.
Thanks for covering this topic. The history of mental illness and treatment was one of my professional specialties, so it's nice to see it get more attention.
Please consider a story on the 'Craigdarroch Castle, built in Victoria, BC. Built by Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish industrialist, he was a coal magnate in the late 1800's and built this home as a gift to his wife Joan. The castle went on to live a chequered history, finally coming back as a restored monument to 19th century industrialists. TY!!
Lived near the Danvers State Hospital in MA, which is now condos and medical buildings, though they saved the facade of the main building. Several family members worked there back in the '60s or so and a friend's brother lived in a condo for a short time. Lot of stories about that place.
There is a massive renovated building in Traverse City, Michigan that I remember right was a mental health facility. It contains many photographs of the previous condition it was in. I can't stress how large of a facility it is though. Felt like it took me near 7-10 mins just to walk from one side to the other. Very beautiful though. Now called The Village at Grand Traverse Commons.
Thanks for another informative video. The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital was renamed Kirkbride Center and still operates in West Philadelphia, including its historic main building but focuses on addiction treatment now.
The former Danvers State Hospital, located approximately 17 miles north of Boston in Danvers, MA, a classic example of the Kirkbride design, is believed by literary historians to have served as inspiration for the infamous Arkham sanatorium from H.P. Lovecraft's "The Thing on the Doorstep". Lovecraft's Arkham, in turn, is the inspiration for Arkham Asylum, a psychiatric hospital within the Batman universe. The State Hospital building was partially demolished in 2005, including the removal of the majority of the wings, and was renovated into condominiums. It is currently known as the Bradlee Danvers and its address is 1101 Kirkbride Dr, Danvers, MA.
Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Ga is another of these just rotting away... Grounds kept up, buildings, not so much. Sad to know what happened there and what it could have been and now all the folks who really need help are out on the streets again, not getting any help. Many veterans. Kinda like the old soldier homes that used to be all over the country, but closed after WW2. Sigh...
I'd love to see a video on the Belchertown State School in Belchertown, Massachusetts. It was a school for the "feeble minded". It was opened in 1922 and closed in 1992 after a series of lawsuits and absolutely horrible conditions. I went to school in 2 of the buildings in the late 90s. The town used them while they built new schools.
And yes, it's EXTREMELY haunted. There's a lot of spooky places in New England. I'm not not big into ghost, but if they're anywhere, it's at the Belchertown State School for the Feeble Minded.
I used to pass those buildings on the way too and from work. Everything, including a working farm, was set on several hundred acres on a small hilltop. One winter afternoon had the buildings brightly illuminated by a sun low in the southwest. They stood out against a black sky to the east. It was the pictorial definition of AWE-inspiring. It was hard to take my eyes off the scene, and watch the traffic around me. Old hospitals are even spookier on the inside, especially with furniture and equipment abandoned-in-place. The intent was to do good, but many times the results fell short. It could be rough on the doctors and staff, never mind the patients.
I was on the Salem, Oregon historical landmarks commission when we approved a plan to completely renovate as opposed to demolish our state “hospital” and the Kirkbride portion, what is the front area of the hospital has been complexly refurbished and behind it a modern facility has been added. It is a wondrous and historically relevant building that to this day is still used to serve our population in need of support of mental illness.
My mother lives in a senior living residence that was formerly a state mental hospital. The masonry and architecture would be difficult to reproduce today.
I worked in a Kirkbride plan complex. At the time I worked there, it was a state run facility treating patients who were mentally ill or chemically dependent or both. While it was an interesting looking building, there were problems with the design. Lines of sight were compromised making patient safety and security a challenge. The size of the place could be a challenge. If there was an emergency requiring staff to meet at the site of the incident, by the time you ran all the way there you would be panting and at a bit of a disadvantage. It was quite an interesting place to work.
We had a very similar huge Provincial Lunatic Asylum here in Saint John New Brunswick Canada. Ran for 100 years. Big buildings similar plan to Kirkbride. Had its own farm. The residents wandered my neighbourhood growing up. Secondly, I would imagine the insane house painter was actually a victim of lead poisoning. A recognized occupational health concern.
My mother worked as a psychiatric nurse here in Ireland. A very uneventful and quiet career except for one stand out case. Legislation was brought in that patients could release themselves and take care of their own medication, i.e. refuse it if they so wished, in an attempt to make patient treatment more in line with mainstream Europe. I believe it was an attempt to stem miscarriages of justice. This led however, to the release of a patient who went off his medication and then proceeded to murder a young single mother, her three year old son and a young priest who used to help him out. The priest tried to rescue the young woman and her child and was shot dead for his efforts. Unlike today, where murder has become common place, this case virtually terrified the nation and was national news for a number of weeks here in the 90's. My mother took early retirement not because of this, as most of the patients were nothing like this man but rather the number of drug induced cases that started coming in as a result of recreational drug activity. Young people who started smoking hash which drug dealers were lacing with other substances to get them hooked on stronger drugs and thus create a market for themselves. These cases were often volatile, unstable and prone to suicidal or violent tendencies and the local police (Gardai - pronounced gar-dee) really had no other place to send them. Whereas she had no problem working with suicidal tendencies, the violence was something new and she decided to retire before something bad happened. A few years later, the whole hospital was closed down with psychiatric facilities moved to general hospitals. To this day psychiatric facilities for patients are severely lacking, overcrowded and struggling with little to no government interest or funding. Interestingly, a common practice by the patients was the recitation of the rosary on the wards. This was not instituted by the staff but the patients themselves and they found it very comforting. The hospital closed in 2013. (Yes, only that recently and despite its "bad reputation" I have met many people who were very grateful for it and for their recovery. They still come up to my Mum thanking her.) That said, many will argue that Ireland is the greatest, largest and only open air lunatic asylum in the world...and people want to come here? :D For the day that's in it (St. Patrick's Day) could you please figure out for us Irish WHERE did American's get the idea that we eat "corned-beef" and cabbage?!!! We eat bacon and cabbage. (Plus if we can help it, hardly ever!) Not corned beef. Here corned beef is a deli meat. Also, no Irish person has ever said "Top of the morning to ya." Yet every time I go to the States, that's the first thing I hear from people when they find out I'm Irish. If anything, it sounds like you didn't get up until midday (the top of the morning), i.e. an insult. Further, not every Irish person drinks, (again, people keep pushing alcohol on me when I go to the States and when I say no thank you, they look at me like I'm a recovering alcoholic. I have friends with similar stories.), leprechauns are not a "thing" here. (Fairies/leprechauns are evil, other worldly creatures who steal children (changlings), cause mischief, death and put curses on you amongst other evil, yet somehow, popular culture depicts them as these adorable little creatures. The same with Hallowe'en. America invented what is now called Hallowe'en. Not Ireland. Hallowe'en comes from All Hallows Evening, i.e. the evening before All Hallows Day a.k.a. All Saints Day. It was a Catholic thing. The ghouls, goblins and ghosts tie in with the evil, paganistic times. How it got associated with a holy day? Samhain- pronounced sow i.e. a pig and -in was the equivalent of Hades here. That's the Irish word used for Hallowe'en and is more to do with paganism and witchcraft. November was around the time they used to sacrifice to it. Yet everyone keeps celebrating it! Hey, if child sacrifice is your thing, leave us out please and thank you! St. Patrick got rid of all that palaver.) All red heads do not have a fiery temper, despite Maureen O'Hara's depiction of us as such. We also do not like random strangers coming up to us asking if they can touch our hair. (Yes, this happened to me on Grafton Street in Dublin...an American. At least he asked! Not all of them do.) You could do an entire segment on myths about redheads alone! AND NO!!! NOT EVERY IRISH PERSON LOOKS FOR A FIGHT WHEN THEY'RE DRUNK!!! Where do people get these ideas? Also, we don't live in thatched cottages or use donkeys and carts anymore. Cowboy builders and politicians we have aplenty though! (Just look at our infrastructure. Taxed to the max and very little in return for it.) We do have McDonalds, (but Supermac's is WAY better. Just sayin'! Garlic chips/fries with cheese is one to try, if only once.) K.F.C., Starbucks and even Domino's pizza...none of these necessarily a good thing I might add. At least for one's mid-section. Further, why is it every Tom, Dick and Harry running for President over there keeps coming to Ireland claiming Irish heritage? Please stop. They're about as Irish as a hotdog. As for the gomsheens that go over with bowls of shamrock...please. These twits do not represent us and if you think voting in America went sideways...our crowd wrote the book. I don't think we've had an honest election in decades. On a completely different topic, have you ever considered a history of toothpaste and toothbrushes or even dentistry? Always been fascinated at America's focus on dental care and how almost everyone seems to have straight teeth...although that may be just people who can afford it and can afford to fly to Europe for vacation. Here in Ireland, proper dentistry only truly began in the late 1980's/90's...and some will even argue it was later than that. (Some say it never really took off here!) We still use amalgam filling which contains mercury and is now one of the first things cancer patients will have removed if they know about its toxicity to the system. And yes, I kissed the blarney stone...as you can see. It was something to do and we were bored. Still hasn't worn off. There must be a cure... Aileen.
Let us remember who built the DHS. A war criminal President George W. Bush who lied to obtain another unconstitutional war! He avoided Vietnam but gave us another illegal war. His administration's criminal activities are history. Forgotten by our country. The history of prisons are deplorable whether called asylum or prison we do no better today.
There is a series of Mystery Novels by D.E.Johnson, a Detroit area author, set in Detroit, circa 1910. The third in the series," Detroit Breakdown", is primarily set in Eloise, and gives a accurate description of the grounds and interiors, and daily activities and the care of patients/inmates. It's a great series, should be read in order, to really be invested in the characters, and the daily life of Detroiters, in the early days of the Auto industry. The first in the series is "The Detroit Electric Scheme", next, "Motor City Shakedown", the final, Detroit Shuffle", which I just found out about, and will start reading tonight!
@9:50 Elgin State Hospital in Elgin IL. Opened in 1872 as the Northern Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane. Place looked like a palace for sure and it’s history is very interesting, the hospital is still opened today but the Kirkbride was closed in the 70’s and was torn down in 1993 along with a whole lot of other buildings on the grounds. It was even proposed to be the new HQ of the Elgin Police Department in an effort to try to save it. You can still tell where it was because they never removed the roads, side walks, lamp posts, and fire hydrants. Sad it wasn’t saved.
Dixmont State Hospital outside of Pittsburgh was closed, and abandoned. Around 2010, Walmart decided to build a Super Walmart on the grounds. Dixmont was built on a large piece of land. The land was on a plateau about 100 ft. high above a 4 lane highway, and Railroad tracks. As the grounds of Dixmont was being graded for Walmart's parking lot the plateau started to move. The whole plateau started moving toward the Ohio River. First the plateau cover the 4 lane highway on it's move toward the Ohio River. The 4 lane highway was completely covered, and the plateau was still moving towards the Railroad tracks. These Railroad tracks were part of the Railroad's Main Line between Chicago and Philadelphia. One of the country's busiest lines. The moving land covered one of the tracks and stopped. The media never mentioned that the land was the old Dixmont State Hospital land. None of the National media mentioned that it was Dixmont State Hospital grounds moving to the Ohio River. I like to believe it was the ghosts of the patients. Walmart abandoned the project, and did not build another store in the area. The land still remains vacant.
I hated when my son went to the one in Philly. They staff was more interested in what was going on on the TV than the children they were supposed to be helping.
The state of Minnesota had a beautiful Kirkbride in Fergus Falls and they just let the place fall apart. I'm not even sure what happened to it in the end. At one time they wanted to save the main part of the building and tear down the wings but never heard if they did that. I've seen pictures of the place and it was ornate and wonderful. Too bad some people were so against saving the place.
My hometown is Fergus Falls and my mom worked in the Kirkbride hospital in Fergus a few years after she graduated college with a degree in Psychology. She had to look for new work when the hospital in 1985, but the hospital still stands on the far north side of town and shares its land with a state registrar’s building and on the other side lies a few of the remaining nurses buildings on the other side of the swath of land. Overall, the whole area is beautiful but haunting and the citizens of Fergus Falls has long wondered what to do with the building and I, personally, hope it’ll be preserved
I grew up in Jacksonville, and both of my parents worked at the State Hospital in the 60's and 70's. I remember being in the wards of patients and seeing some of the questionable conditions the worst geriatric residents lived in, but also the very well taken care of grounds and fairly pleasant conditions that the highest functioning residents enjoyed. The place is huge, a square half mile full of brick buildings that are mostly still there today. Worth seeing if only for its historical value. Our high school cross country course was on the grounds, and we ran against teams from O'Fallon, Granite City, and Belleville.
Thanks for your video 📹 upload. I agree 👍 with you The Kirkbride asylum is extremely important building and I think you probably have reported it the American Heritage Society to try and keep it from falling into anymore disrepair and it will be gone forever. Very thankfully we have English Heritage here where we are all actively reporting our asylum buildings too because they are listed as historical importance 😊
Dorothea Dix was a proponent of two mental hospitals built in North Carolina in the mid to late 1800's, one of them later named for her and located in Raleigh. The other was built in Morganton after it was clear that another facility was needed for the number of patients being admitted. I don't know whether they are truly Kirkbride hospitals, but both of these institutions meet the architectural pattern. Dorothea Dix Hospital at one time had over 2300 acres; "Dix Hill" , a 308 acre portion of the original grounds and named for Dorothea's grandfather, is now a city park in Raleigh. Another 385 acres is now part of NC State University. I did my psychiatric nursing rotation at Broughton Hospital, the facility built in Morganton. It is almost 300 acres and opened as the Western Carolina Insane Asylum. The town of Morganton grew up beside the institution and now surrounds much of it.
The Weston State Hospital (Weston, West Virginia) aka The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, was a Kirkbride psychiatric hospital that was operated from 1864 until 1994 by the government of the state of West Virginia.
This is a fascinating episode as much for it's architectural component as for the history of the treatment of mental health issues in earlier times. If you're ever looking for a subject that touches on similar topics and is equally fascinating you might look into doing a piece on McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. From the grounds being selected by Frederick Law Olmstead to the large number of famous people who have been treated there to the important (and interesting!) work in the past and up to the current day that has lead to groundbreaking treatments for those that suffer from schizophrenia, personality disorders to depression, it would make a compelling story.
I heard the name Dorthea Dix often when I lived in The Research Triangle of North Carolina where she had convinced them to build such a facility which was ultimately named for her. I moved there in 2008 and for the next few years it was often in the news because of closure plans.
Excellent documentary as always. I'm surprised that you didn't mention the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers in Massachusetts. It was purportedly H.P. Lovecraft and Bob Kane's inspiration for Arkham Asylum.
And the setting for the horror film "Session 9" which is excellent. The Arkham Asylum in Batman is in honor of Lovecraft's Arkham, a 'witch haunted' town based on Salem MA.
I was surprised that I missed the news of Hinckley's release, only to find, when I looked into it, that he now has a RU-vid channel (with his own music) and over 25 thousand subscribers. (I won't link to it here, but I wish him continued good health.)
I graduated from OU In '81; the same year that Professor and author Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon) published "The Minds of Billie Milligan". Billie was the first American to be acquitted of a capital crime on the basis of multiple personality disorder. During my four years in Athens, Keyes had been researching and writing the book. It wasn't widely known at the time that Billie; a resident of what we called "The Hill"; was allowed to leave the Asylum during the day. I'm sure many students would have been uncomfortable knowing that he was mingling with them.
Another notable patient was the American poet Ezra Pound -- following WWII he was convicted of treason. Was spared the death penalty by pleading insanity. New to your channel. Good show. Regards.
I'm from DC and St. E's was well known. My great-uncle used to work there as a maintenance man, and is credited with stopping a woman from committing suicide by literally talking her "off the ledge". It had beautiful grounds. There was talk of moving parts of DOD there, but don't know what became of that.
Considering the misery that Jackson piled onto my Cherokee ancestors, I wouldn't have felt so bad if his would-be assassin had at least one good shot. Jackson's death-march from Georgia to Oklahoma claimed the life of one of my forbears, making it as far as Tennessee; most others made it as far as Arkansas and Oklahoma (where I was born).
I don't blame you. Myself, I'm distinctly 4th-generation European, but I've read of Jackson's bigoted crimes and it remains mystifying to me how we still have his face on our currency. I believe he was a foul, rotten man.
One of these days I want to see "Unto These Hills", which tells the story of the Trail of Tears. It's performed at the Mountainside theater in Cherokee, NC. This country has done a lot of really great things, and has much to be proud of, those things shouldn't be forgotten or overlooked, but we have also done some really bad things, and the Trail of Tears was among the worst. Those things need to be remembered too.
In my genealogy efforts I discovered a relation who was an in-patient at St. Elizabeth's for about 30 years. I'm a physician &, when I called St. Elizabeth's administration, I identified myself as such & requested my relative's medical records. Much to my surprise, a huge packet arrived at my door a few weeks later. Fascinating read. I showed it to my father (the relative's nephew) who took only a slight interest in it. Anyway, my relative Kenneth died while still an in-patient & is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He enlisted in the USMC about 1-2 months before he was admitted to St. Elizabeth's.
I actually work at a state operated secure mental health facility. However, not of the Kirkbride design. The one I work at was built in the 50s and is in a campus design with many buildings. Residents have time to be outside in designated areas, go to classes and have activities. There is a small store, a chapel, and a cafe that serves things other than hospital food. It is like its own little town.
In Weston, West Virginia is the former asylum which appears to have been initially constructed on the Kirkbride model. Construction was begun just prior to the Civil War. A group of federal troops seized gold from a local bank intended to pay construction worker, but was feared to fall into the hands of Confederates (this was prior to 1863 formation of West Virginia). Each June a reenactment of the "Great Bank Robbery"takes place.
My wife and I toured the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston a few years back, it's fascinating to see and learn about what was considered cutting-edge treatment for the mentally ill. It's definitely worth a visit.
Please look into "Titicutt Follies" a film made in 1960's by Frederick Wiseman about the Mass. Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Bridgewater MA. It was banned from being shown here for many years...not to be confused with the (Kirkbride) Hospital for the Insane in Danvers, MA. Thank You!
The imperial war museum, London UK, which you have visited was the bethlam royal hospital or bedlam, up to approx 25 years ago still had iron rings embedded in the walls to chain up the insane so that the great and good could for a fee visit the inmates. A horrific thaught now. But what better place to house a museum of war. The hospital has now moved to Beckham in SE London
Electric shock: Electroshock therapy was used for a number of years. Then it went out of style as being too inhumane. Modern day medicine is starting to bring electric shock therapy back! It can relieve, for a period of time, symptoms of epilepsy and depression, among other ailments. Doctors do not know how or why it works. All they know is that it seems to work, for a little while. In the old days the patient was conscious when they applied the electric shock. Nowadays, they sedate or even anesthetize the patient....it it doesn't seem to matter to the treatment. Afterwards, for a few weeks to a few months, patience have no symptoms fewer symptoms or less severe symptoms.... Just wanted to let you know....
Kirkbride and Dix, IIRC, were both Quaker, and Quakers brought ideas for humane treatment from European hospitals. Episode Idea: The New Jersey State Village for Epileptics in Skillman. A self-sufficient community that later served people with developmental disabilities.
Wow I love this one ! The two of the three greatest Doctors of mental medicine. You left one out to complete the trio . Dr Curwin . Dr Kirkbride and Dr Dix and are at the Harrisburg State hospital. There was a Kirkbride building but was torn down in fear of fire . Funniest thing is Dr Dix is the last type of institution in use . We now call it a group home . I was at what we called Ft coocoo . It was a building that was the administration building of Penhurst State hospital in Pa . I can go on and on about the history of that place . Those who like woman history, look up Dorothea Dix ! She is cool hell ! SHE IS A " I don't take no as an answer " kind of woman . Remember the time frame she lived in .
After watching this one, you should do one A.G. Holly the last tuberculosis sanatorium in the U.S.. It closed about 8 years ago and was located in Palm Beach County Florida.
There is one of his buildings left in traverse City Michigan. It's been repurposed and there is ongoing work being done but there is a restaurant on the main floor
Oh, another interesting thing is how far Kirkbride hospitals have penetrated our culture. The 2014 video game Thief has a section that takes place in a (quite small, only having a single ward on each side) mental hospital following the Kirkbride plan, despite not having any indication that treatment was intended to be benign, if unhelpful.
The softening of American English to make things not so bad and to downplay the meanings of words is a horrible trend. Instead of "shell shock" it is called PTSD. Instead of "died" they use "passed away" in obits. Instead of "old people" they are now called "seniors". There is a vlog on youtube by George Carlan which discusses this and one should take it in.
Buffalo NY is the home of a Kirkbride, the former Buffalo Psychiatric Center. It’s got lovely bones and the connection between the wings are curved hallways, I had heard at one point that they were developing a hotel in the building. I also wonder if anyone has turned one of these buildings into a college of some kind.
If you are in the area of Buffalo NY you can see an enormous mental hospital designed by H.H. Richardson. You can even stay there as it has been converted into a hotel.
Many if not every of these sites hosted terrible practices that even devolved overtime paralleling the constant founding cuts but I'm guilty of an impromptu burst of laughter at the new jersey asylum for "lunatics".... oh boy.
Let's not forget Byberry hospital in Philadelphia. Closed down and let the remaining lunatics out. Was a place to explore all the abandoned buildings years ago, and you had to worry about getting caught by the police. Creepy place with a few creepy stories 😬
