As promised in my last post, here’s another collection of links to old photographs of Kirkbride asylums. There aren’t as many left for me to share as I thought. I really should have just thrown these in with the last bunch, but oh well…
To start things off, here are some images of the Western Hospital for the Insane in Bolivar, Tennessee (otherwise known as Bolivar State Hospital).
1) Administration
2) Side View of the Kirkbride
It’s too bad the second one is so small. There are a lot more like it too which can be seen in this list. You can order prints if you want to see them bigger.
Moving up to Ohio, I also found a set of three interior images from Columbus State Hospital available on this page: Columbus State Hospital
And here’s a nice exterior of the Athens State Hospital admin: Athens State Hospital
I think I prefer old photos of Kirkbrides to anything around today. They show the buildings much closer to their original state, before they were modified and modernized. There’s also a sort of “atmospheric haze” in older photographs that makes them seem more real while at the same time more ethereal. Maybe there’s a technical explanation for that, but being an intuitive sort of photographer, I have no idea what it is. I just know that I like it.
Finally, as a little bonus here are some old drawings of two Wisconsin Hospitals for the Insane. If you get past the clunky interface, you can get a pretty amazingly detailed view of them. While they’re not photographs, they’re still interesting to look at.
Things have been a little slow in the Kirkbride newsroom lately. Aside from last week’s excitement over the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, there haven’t been many new developments in the world of Kirkbrides—just some rehashing of the same old news.
So here’s a post about more old Kirkbride photos on the web that people might not be aware of. In a previous post on the same topic, I mentioned that I couldn’t find some photos of Worcester State Hospital which I had come across earlier in the American Memory Collection. I found them again fortunately. As stated before though, the quality isn’t so hot. Maybe the originals are good (it might be worth getting copies), but the electronic versions available on the web site aren’t. That said, here are the links.
1) Bloomingdale Hospital, Worcester, MA
2) Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester, MA (You can just make out the Kirkbride in the distance)
Moving on to other buildings and better photos, here are some nice shots of the Fergus Falls State Hospital Kirkbride under construction.
1) Third State Hospital of Minnesota under Construction
2) Third State Hospital of Minnesota under Construction
3) Third State Hospital of Minnesota under Construction
And here’s an interior photo from the Fergus Falls kitchen.
1) Fergus Falls State Hospital Kitchen Crew
Staying in Minnesota for the time being, there is a surprising wealth of photos of Saint Peter State Hospital online, although many are pretty much the same shot. Here are some examples with as few “repeats” as possible.
1) State Insane Asylum, St. Peter
2) The St. Peter State Hospital
3) View of the State Hospital in Saint Peter
4) Main Buildings at the St. Peter State Hospital
5) Administration and South Wing
6) Main Buildings
7) Minnesota River and the State Hospital
8) Saint Peter State Hospital Kirkbride
9) Rear View of Saint Peter State Hospital
10) After the Fire at Saint Peter State Hospital
11) Drawing of the Saint Peter Kirkbride
In addition, there are three whole albums of photos from Saint Peter State Hospital available at the links below.
1) Saint Peter Album One
2) Saint Peter Album Two
3) Saint Peter Album Three
And to complete the virtual tour of Minnesota’s Kirkbride buildings, here are some photos from Rochester State Hospital.
1) Rochester State Hospital Operating Room
2) Rochester State Hospital Grounds
3) Rochester State Hospital Electric Station
4) Rochester State Hospital Kirkbride
That’s it for now. I’ll post more links to photos of other Kirkbrides later this week.
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is the featured location on tonight’s episode of Ghost Hunters. The show airs at 9PM on the Sci-Fi Channel. TAPS — “not your normal paranormal” investigation team — will be shown hunting hauntings in the Kirkbride. I’ve never really watched the show, but from scanning a fan forum for 30 seconds I gather TAPS is a bit more skeptical and scientific than the average paranormal investigation unit. I don’t know if that’s saying much though:)
Regardless of your opinion on paranormal phenomena, this episode is probably worth watching. There’s sure to be plenty of good footage of the Kirkbride.
In related news, I’ve refreshed and expanded the Weston State Hospital photo gallery. I haven’t been down to Weston in a while, so the photos are from 2003 and 2004. It was a little sad taking down the even older shots. They were there for a long time and I had grown attached to their more “old school asylum photo” character. The newer pictures aren’t anything to write home about, but they’re definitely more slick than the older ones.
Hopefully I’ll have a chance to get down there this summer. I’d like to see the building again, and Weston in general is a nice place to visit for a day or two. I imagine it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but I like it.
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum web site has a great new look. Check it out if you have some time to spare. It’s definitely worth a gander. The layout and graphics are very “sexy” and will certainly draw more people in to learn the Weston asylum story.
www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com.
I like how the home page sort of splits the building in half to acknowledge the two big interests regarding the old hospital: History & Heritage versus Hauntings & Mystery. I’m not much for the latter, but if you are, check out the Overnight at the Asylum announcement on the Ghost Tours page.
Those familiar with 19th century asylums know all about the sometimes trivial or bizarre reasons people were “adjudged insane”. If you do any kind of research into asylums or the history of psychology, you invariably come across lists of weird explanations for why certain people were committed to asylums.
But I was surprised by a list on Roots Web I came across recently. The list was compiled from late 19th and early 20th century newspaper items describing people committed to the Mount Pleasant asylum in Iowa. (more…)
The abandoned buildings at Worcester State Hospital could start coming down as soon as this week according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Reporter Lee Hammel writes about the possible scaling back of the proposed new hospital facility, and mentions a few facts about demolition and the unclear fate of the Clocktower. (more…)
Just a reminder to those of you in the Buffalo, NY area: there’ll be a public meeting about the Richardson Complex this Wednesday, April 16th. The meeting starts at 6PM and will take place at the Buffalo and Eerie County Historical Society, 25 Nottingham Court, in Buffalo. Findings, recommendations, updates and plans on stabilization and redevelopment will be presented.
If anyone reading this attends, please let me know of any surprising or especially good/bad news. Thanks. I’m hoping there’ll be some fantastic revelation about preservation and reuse of this historic building—it’s definitely one of my favorites. I won’t be surprised if it’s just a rehashing of things we’ve heard before though. Things usually turn out to be a lot less exciting than my hopes… *sigh*
A piece of the original Oregon State Hospital building that’ll be spared the wrecking ball is being called the “Kirkbride U”. It’s kind of a weird term, but sort of makes sense considering the building itself is a little unusual because of it’s “J” shape. Read about it here: Plan Spares Tower on Old Hospital Site.
I’m still not sure I’d classify OSH as a Kirkbride building considering it’s oddball floorplan, but it could be one if you use a loose definition of the term. It was built in the right time period and probably followed most of the other structural ideas. It even looks like a Kirkbride minus the segmented wings. And if calling it a Kirkbride helped preserve the place, who really cares? It’s unquestionably historic and should be saved. (I know the state is destroying a lot of it, but they’re saving the most interesting part architecturally speaking.) (more…)
This one’s been a bit of a question mark, but the evidence I’ve seen points to there originally being a Kirkbride at Napa State Hospital in California. Unfortunately, if Napa did have a Kirkbride it’s long gone. According to this write-up on the institution’s 130th anniversary the building was town down in 1949. (more…)
The Friends of the Kirkbride in Minnesota are extending an invitation to everyone to tour the former Fergus Falls RTC. You can read more about it here: Kirkbride is a Treasure of Architecture. Or you can just call 218-736-5328 to make a reservation. Tours are given weekly.
Speaking of Fergus Falls, check out these aerial photos somebody posted on MySpace:
Aerial Pic One
Aerial Pic Two
