Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

Forum member Swansod made a post today about a small treasure trove of newspaper clippings he found while researching Worcester State Hospital. The clippings are from the 1930s, ’60s and ’90s. You can see reproductions on Swansod’s Zenfolio pages: WSH Related. (Hint: click on a thumbnail, then hover your mouse cursor over the larger version to get the download link. Download the file for a more legible version.)

Some high points from the articles include a map identifying each part of the Kirkbride (pictured above), mention of some films made by superintendent Dr William Bryan (which I’m trying to find more about), descriptions of various renovations over the years, LSD experiments, pictures of the hospital’s operating room, and information about the first phase of demolition which happened shortly after the Kirkbride fire in 1991.

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.

I decided to bring the forum back. Part of my future plan for KirkbrideBuildings.com is to welcome contributions from other people who have had first-hand experience of the various buildings. Having a forum is an obvious first step toward that goal. Feel free to contribute with information, questions, or comments. (more…)