In 1927, Dr. Clarence Bonner became the superintendent of the hospital. Abandoned Mental Hospitals in Massachusetts In 2014, Avalon Bay sold the building for $108.5 million dollars to the DSF Group which then changed its name to Halstead Danvers and more recently changed its name again to Bradlee Danvers. Arcadia Publishing, 2018.Hogarty, Richard A. 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. It is now a renovated apartmen. In 1909, it was renamed the Tewksbury State Infirmary. In the 1890s, Dr. Charles Page, the superintendent, declared mechanical restraint unnecessary and harmful in cases of mental illness. Basement 'Tunnel' prev | next Danvers State Hospital Page. The number of patients grew to over 2,000 while the size of the staff remained relatively the same. - YouTube (I have an even better Danvers State tunnel video on my channel as well. The annual reports written by the hospital trustees highlighted the hospitals growing problems, such as this report from 1939: During the last year the problem of overcrowding became more apparent than in past years, Beginning in August, there was a marked increase in the admission rate of elderly psychotic persons, and for the first time, this group outnumbered the younger group. In addition, several former patients and staff members have also published memoirs about their time at the hospital, including Nobodys Child, published in 1987 by former patient Marie Balter, who returned to the hospital in 1988 to work as the Chief Hospital Spokeswoman, and Danvers State: Memoirs of a Nurse in the Asylum, published in 2004 by Angelina Szot. One patient who was there, Anna Jennings, told her doctor that she had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child. In June of 1991, Governor Weld accepted the commissions recommendations to close nine mental health facilities and public health hospitals within the next three years. The left wing of the building was destroyed and the right wing was partially damaged during a fire in 1991. Danvers State Hospital Cemetery - Haunted Salem He was injured in the war. Visit this site's About page to find out more about Rebecca. Then there was a time, when they had an open house christmas party for the staff and patients and but that didnt set right with me or my younger sister on going to this, but was picking up my mom at that time. Thats so sad, Brenda! After four years of construction, the Danvers State Hospital was officially opened in 1878. Designed in 1874 by noted Boston architect, N.J. Bradlee, it is an implementation of the nationally recognized Kirkbride plan. Danvers State Hospital, has a very dark past of its own. my great grandparent had a country home near there and my grandmother could hear them wailing at nightthey were the FRANK W WEBB FAMILY who also had an intown home on beacon hill. Nurses would pull and drag patients by their hair. Rebecca Beatrice Brooks is the author and publisher of the History of Massachusetts Blog. Thats one big reason why, as a viewer, once youre done watching the film, you cant help but wonder if it was filmed in a real-life hospital. the odd collection | Scary places, Abandoned places - Pinterest I live in a town close by and it is something that has always interested me. Creepy Ghost Places: Danvers State Hospital - Soul:Ask The tunnels : Danversstatehospital - Reddit [7] The DSF Group released plans for the property to undergo further renovations.[7]. Watch. The original hospital, known as the Worcester Lunatic Asylum, was built in 1833 which makes it the first state hospital built in Massachusetts. Portions of Danvers State Hospital were shut down in 1969. 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. The design of the hospital was based on the Kirkbride plan and consisted of a series of nine buildings laid out in a rectangle with an inner courtyard in the middle. Former Danvers State Hospital, Danvers, Mass, in 2013. I was told my dad worked there at some point (probably in the 40s) as a security guard. It was designed to be self-contained and somewhat self-sufficient in wintertime, thanks to its own steam power plant at the bottom of the hill. To make the setting even more disturbing, the psychiatric facility was built in the town of Danvers, once known as Salem Village until 1752. Danvers State Hospital, originally known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Danvers, was significant in both architectural and social history. In 1989, the Kirkbride building was shuttered after the remaining patients were moved to the Bonner medical building. In 1958, another building, the Bryant Building, was added to the property to expand the hospital. The following major additions to the Kirkbride Complex were also made: 1897- compatibly designed, three story brick annexes to the ends of high security wings A and J, presumably to house additional chronic patients. For more information on historic state hospitals, check out this article on abandoned mental hospitals in Massachusetts. By the 1880s, the property primarily became a hospital helping both mentally and physically ill patients. 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.
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