Phil Thomas, the gentleman who brought us City on the Hill, has created a new site dedicated to another Pennsylvania asylum: Danville State Hospital. The site includes a history of the hospital, some pointers on how to get patient information and, best of all, lots of pictures—both historical and contemporary. Though the latter are great, my favorites are the old photos of the Kirkbride. I don’t think I knew that the original admin section was considerably different than it is today. It’s probably just me, but doesn’t the old admin make the building look more like an old fashioned grand hotel than an asylum?
House fan (and occasional KB.com blog reader) Deborah was kind enough to notify us that the above promo for House’s upcoming sixth season is now available on YouTube. The promo has plenty of Greystone Kirkbride shots and a healthy serving of interior views too — something I hope will be a regular feature of Season 6. Stay tuned…
You can now download a computer-generated version of The Ridges containing a virtual model of the Athens State Hospital Kirkbride. The computer model was developed and produced by Kellye Green, an Interactive Multimedia major at Ohio University. A short video about the project and download links are available at the Soul of Athens web site.
The graphics aren’t quite exact in every detail, but all of The Ridges’ buildings and their configurations are reproduced in this digital world, along with historical information about each structure. My only disappointment was that you can’t get inside the Kirkbride and look around, but I’m sure it would probably have added another few years to the project to have that level of complexity. You can however get up on the roof if you “walk” into the building’s exterior wall and just keep going forward. That’s kind of neat.
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Although they’ve faced a lot of controversy, the Jordan family are to be applauded and respected for taking on the difficult task of preserving and re-using the former Weston State Hospital. This summer they’ve got a pretty full schedule of events at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (hereinafter the TALA), and of course the usual public tours. I recommend making a special trip for the tours alone even if you weren’t already planning on being near Weston this summer.
The TALA is open for tours every Tuesday through Sunday. Tours on Mondays are by appointment only. You can purchase tickets for the special ghost tours and ghost hunts on the TALA website. (more…)
According to the Buffalo News, renovation work on the central admin and adjacent wards of the Buffalo Kirkbride is about to get serious. If all goes well, work to preserve the stone sections of the building for future use will be in full swing this summer, and should be completed in about 15 months. The Richardson Center Corporation also plans on stabilizing the brick wards during this time, but they expect those sections may stay vacant for quite a while.
There will be a final public meeting about the project at 6PM on Tuesday, July 14 in Buffalo State College’s Rockwell Hall.
I came across this write-up on the Village of Grand Traverse Commons online and snickered a little at the caption below the accompanying photo of Building 50. The caption describes the grand Italianate Kirkbride as an “old potato-peeling shed”. It’s only mildly funny I admit, but I figured I would share the laugh anyhow.
A fire started in the Fergus Falls Kirkbride earlier today (Tuesday, June 16). You can see some pictures of it here: Fire at the Regional Treatment Center. I don’t know the details, but will post more information when I find out more about it.
Update – Here’s some good video footage of the fire by Lethal over at the Fergus Falls Forum. Looks like the fire was caused by a lightning strike. It’s hard to tell, but the damage doesn’t look too intense. It’s painful to watch how long it takes for the ladder to extend, but I’m sure they’re moving as fast as they can. (more…)
StoryCorps — the nonprofit project to honor and celebrate lives through listening — just posted a story about the memories of one Marcia Page: A Special Childhood Friend. Marcia spent part of her childhood on the grounds of the Fergus Falls State Hospital. Her father was the chief clinical psychologist there during part of the 1950s. While the piece is unfortunately brief, it does offer a warm glimpse of what life could be like for a hospital employee’s child. Read the Story
A national memorial for the mentally ill is being planned by Mental Health America and will be placed on the grounds of Saint Elizabeths hospital. The memorial is meant to specifically honor the thousands of people who have died while being treated at psychiatric hospitals around the nation and whom are often buried in anonymous graves such as the one pictured above. According to a Mental Health America press release: (more…)
A gentleman named Benny Britton has published a book chronicling the history of Terrell State Hospital in Texas. Britton has been an employee of the hospital for forty-two years. Unfortunately, the book—which includes historic and current photos—does not appear to be available anywhere but at the hospital. If you’re in the Terrell area, there will be a book signing on Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at the state hospital Silver Star Cinema at 5:30PM where the book will be available for purchase. More information can be found in this article: Terrell State Hospital History Book Published. If I find out you can pick up the book online or in bookstores, I’ll post a follow-up.
