Stephanie (rubystarlyte) wrote in abandonedplaces,
2009-02-16 11:50:00

Norristown State Hospital

Here are some shots of building of Norristown State Hospital, built in 1879. The hospital was Pennsylvania's first state inpatient psychiatric facility and is now the only one in southeastern Pennsylvania. The hospital was built in the "cottage model" (see Asylum architecture) with a number of separate structures. The hospital advocated moral therapy and limited restraint. In the mid twentieth century, there were over 4000 patients. The hospital now serves 307 patients in General Psychiatry and 120 in Forensic Psychiatry.

It is one of many buildings on the property, but it is the only one that lies abandoned. The rest of the asylum is fully functional as far as I can tell... the majority of the "older" buildings have all been demolished. This is the only old building still standing.

Some old photos--> www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~asylums/norri stown_pa/index.html



(click on image for more! :-)
Tags: abandoned, asylum, hospital
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  • 16 comments

sloanepeterson5

February 16 2009, 17:30:20 UTC 4 years ago

These are wonderful. It's a shame that it fell into such disrepair, I bet it was beautiful in its heyday :)

zjman

February 16 2009, 18:04:23 UTC 4 years ago

Wow. That brings back some memories. I grew up about 15 minutes from there. Ever get a chance to check out Byberry before the demolition? That was one hell of a modern ruin!

rubystarlyte

February 16 2009, 18:12:23 UTC 4 years ago

I definitely did check out Byberry! Unfortunately that was back when I had a horrible camera... sigh.

avec_bonheur

February 16 2009, 18:41:21 UTC 4 years ago

Creepy hospital is creepy. ): Congrats on having the courage to go inside!

The trees that are overrunning the side of the hospital: where are they growing from? Certainly not the ground, or are they?

jesuisgringoire

February 18 2009, 15:35:44 UTC 4 years ago

wow...agreed. on my list of "do not enter or psychic peril will ensue" places, abandoned mental hospitals are somewhere right around civil war battlegrounds and concentration camps. *shudder*

avec_bonheur

February 18 2009, 23:28:57 UTC 4 years ago

Heh, I'm going to Auschwitz in April. :p But old mental hospitals scare the bejeebus out of me. Especially when you consider what their "methods" were. ):

jesuisgringoire

February 19 2009, 00:26:57 UTC 4 years ago

yeah, I used to be a psych major and we watched videos of some of the old stuff...scary for real.

seemingly_alone

February 16 2009, 19:01:21 UTC 4 years ago

Your pictures are all beautiful. You should post some of them here under a cut and explain some of the pictures, some of them have me really curious!

faeriecat

February 16 2009, 20:56:32 UTC 4 years ago

lovely work. such attention to detail.

thesheryl

February 16 2009, 23:11:50 UTC 4 years ago

Beautiful! Did you actually make it inside or did you just shoot through the windows?

thehoodwatch

February 16 2009, 23:21:07 UTC 4 years ago

It looks a lot like a place around here. Same scenario, still amongst many still used buildings.

yoyoits_koko

February 17 2009, 00:30:29 UTC 4 years ago

I love your pictures.
It's quite ironic how such beautiful buildings were built for such a depressing, lonely use.

realbruts

February 17 2009, 16:22:33 UTC 4 years ago

Great set of photos!!

rainbowraf

February 17 2009, 23:40:08 UTC 4 years ago

I've been on the grounds of Norristown, me and a friend drove through. I haven't had the pleasure of visiting the buildings but that's on my list. The buildings there are beautiful, so many of my friends have gotten into here.

I don't live too far from Norristown, so I'm not sure what's keeping me from going.

doppelfisch

February 20 2009, 19:35:21 UTC 4 years ago

wonderful segment!

rubystarlyte

February 20 2009, 21:58:35 UTC 4 years ago

Thanks so much everyone! Unfortunately, I couldn't get inside, but lucky for me all the windows were busted in so I stuck my camera in through the bars. If I had found a way in, believe me, I would not have hesitated!