Kirkbride Buildings Blog

Brattleboro Retreat

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Brattleboro Retreat Main Building
I recently came into possession of a small booklet about the Brattleboro Retreat which was published in 1931. The booklet contains the hospital’s history and lots of photographs, but what I found most interesting was the drawing above. That is, of course, the Retreat’s main building which I would call a Kirkbride (albeit a small and unimpressive one). But notice that the drawing is dated 1844 — a few years before the widely accepted “first Kirkbride building” was designed and built in Trenton, New Jersey! (more…)

Kirkbride Buildings in Street View

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009


A few days ago, squad546 on the Asylum Projects forum told me that Independence State Hospital is now represented in Google’s Street View. I soon after went looking for other Kirkbride buildings to see if there were any other new additions since I last checked. Below are the ones I found that you can see clearly. (more…)

Books on Amazon

The Art of Asylum Keeping The Eclipse of the State Mental Hospital The Mad Among Us America's Care of the Mentally Ill Angels in the Architecture The Architecture of Madness Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals The Eye of Danvers: A History of Danvers State Hospital
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