Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

Old time Kirkbride Buildings forum member WSH posted a few scans today of some annual reports from the “Worcester Lunatic Hospital“. Among other things, the superintendent writes about the installation of the clock in the admin tower. Also included are old photos of one of the rotundas, Hooper Hall. They’re definitely worth checking out.

Credit goes to squad546 on the Asylum Projects forum for this revelation: it looks like there may have been a Kirkbride building in Bolivar, Tennessee. As it stands today, the building has no wings, but there are clues it used to have some. An older topographic map shows what appears to be that old, familiar outline. Also, the structure was completed in 1889, putting it within the tail end of the Kirkbride era. And lastly, these photos show there was definitely something torn down on either side of the old administration building. Check out these images in particular where you can make out traces of what was torn down:

Image One
Image Two
Image Three

I’m still not completely sure this was a Kirkbride, but I wouldn’t post about it if I didn’t think there’s a really good chance it was. Finding out about a Kirkbride not mentioned in the usual sources is always a nice surprise. It gives you hope that there are more out there. Conservatively, I’d estimate the total count of Kirkbride asylums ever built at somewhere around fifty. But the real count could be more like seventy. Finds like this make me think the larger number is more likely. I’ll write more about those estimates in a future post.

I came across some images from Saint Elizabeths on this blog: Bioephemera. I’m not entirely sure they’re from inside the Kirkbride, but it’s likely they are. The patient graffiti reminds me of Egyptian hieroglyphics, but “Klee-esque wall scribblings” (as the blog author refers them) is probably a more accurate description.

These photos would have been a nice addition to the slideshow of Saint Elizabeths photos mentioned in this post.

(BTW: I searched through the archives mentioned at Bioephemera for more images from Kirkbride asylums, but didn’t find any.)

Looking through my “archives”, I came across this image. It’s an architect’s drawing for the planned Mendocino State Asylum for the Insane. I’m not sure if this exact building was ever constructed though. There was a Mendocino State Hospital—it was built in Talmage, California and opened in 1893. Its main building was demolished in 1952.

The best images I’ve found on the web show a building similar to the one above, but without the segmented wings and a radically different admin. It’s hard to tell if the building plan was changed, the existing building was modified, or if images like the ones below are of an entirely different structure.

1) Image: Mendocino State Hospital
2) Image: Mendocino State Hospital

My guess is that the plan was changed before it was built, but I really don’t know. If anyone has any information on this, please comment. Or if you’re a Kirkbride enthusiast living in California, maybe check out the collection of 217 photos from Mendocino mentioned here. They might shed some light on this mystery and are probably worth looking at anyway.

A while ago I came across some photos of Taunton State Hospital on the Library of Congress’ American Memory web site. They’re part of a collection of photos put together by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) to document achievements in architecture, engineering, and design in the United States. Of course I immediately searched for images of other asylums, but didn’t find much of interest in terms of Kirkbrides (except for these photos of Buffalo State Hospital). A few days ago I had a few hours to kill and discovered that there were actually lots of photos of other Kirkbride buildings in the collection. Here’s what I found: (more…)

I can’t tell how old it is, but this article on the history of Saint Elizabeths on the National Museum of Civil War Medicine site is worth a look. Some of the info is pretty familiar, but this lithograph of the rear of the Kirkbride is something I’ve never seen before—and not a bad piece of work either.

It’s funny how almost every Kirkbride building has been drawn, painted, and photographed over its entire lifecycle, and that the photography done now is just a continuation of that historical record.

There’s finally a page for Clarinda State Hospital. I visited the place back in 2004…

2004… the days when I absolutely, positively NEEDED a camera that fit in my pocket. The days before I knew what a tripod was for, or had ever heard of things like bracketing. What I’m trying to say that most of the pictures are a bit iffy. Still, there are plenty of other pictures on this site from the same time period, and these Clarinda shots are the best from my Iowa excursion. Looking at some of them though I just can’t help feeling disappointed. Why didn’t I step back a few feet here? Why didn’t I turn two degrees to the right there? How did my @#%*! finger get in front of the lens? (more…)

The abandoned west campus at Saint Elizabeths is in the news again: Chertoff Revives Bid for New CG HQ, and GSA Seeks Funding Boost for DHS Headquarters Project.

Nothing too exciting, but it gives me an excuse to mention an article I came across recently: What’s Inside Box No. 1997.0015 OHA 293.23? It’s a little old, but if you haven’t read it, it’s worth taking a look at—especially for this amazing slideshow.

My wife and I recently looked at an apartment in what used to be the Danvers Kirkbride. We originally thought we were going to be looking at a condo, but it turns out Avalon only rents the Kirkbride living spaces.

We were shown a model apartment on the first floor of the admin. It was actually reasonably nice for an apartment. The rooms were bright (because of those big Kirkbride windows). The kitchen had the essential granite counter tops, and a seemingly impossible amount of cabinet space. There were also two huge bathrooms you could dance the Tango in. While not exceptional, the construction didn’t seem particularly cheap either. We were told the apartments in what’s left of the Kirkbride are of a higher quality than the ones in the new buildings. (more, including interior photos…)

I added a Greystone Park page to the site. I’ve been sitting on pictures of the place for a few years now. They’ll be a bit of a yawn to those familiar with other asylum web sites (most notably John Gray’s fantastic Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital). But I think it’s important that the building be represented here, if only to stop the semi-regular emails I get telling me that I missed Greystone… (more…)