Central State Hospital, Milledgeville, Georgia
Once clean and sterile, these abandoned hospitals and asylums are
left in crumbling ruins and exposed to the elements. Some people find
these places creepy, others find them beautiful, but all agree that
these now-silent structures, many of them historic, have a haunting,
eerie appeal. (Note: Most of these sites are on private property and may
be covered by trespass laws.) What causes the decay in these
structures? In his reports from abandoned cities such as Chernobyl,
Ukraine and Varosha, Cyprus for his best-selling book "The World Without
Us," Alan Weisman wrote that structures crumble as weather does unrepaired damage
and other life forms create new habitats. A common structure, such as a
building, would begin to fall apart as water eventually erodes the wood
and rusts the nails.
The site of a once thriving mental hospital is now home to over 200 crumbling buildings shadowed by the ghosts of its past. The Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia
once was the epicenter of the community but now sits in disarray after
its closing in 1974. The hospital was built in 1842 and at one point
housed as many as 13,000 patients, according to the Associated Press,
and at its height operated like a small city. Forty years of decay and
neglect have left most of the buildings in poor condition. The ceilings
and roofs of some have crumbled and nature has taken over and reclaimed
the land. On a recent trip to the hospital, photographer Johnny Joo, an architectural explorer, captured the state of the hospital in these haunting images.
St. John’s Hospital, Lincolnshire, England
More than a hundred years of history are contained in the decaying walls
of St. John's Hospital, a former mental asylum in Lincolnshire,
England, which closed its doors in 1989. Built in 1852, the hospital was
originally called the Lincolnshire County Lunatic Asylum, and was
originally built to house 250 "penniless lunatics." Through the years,
the hospital expanded its grounds to 120 acres, and included its own
mortuary chapel, gardens, farmland and a burial ground, according to AsylumProjects.org.
Photographers and urban explorers who visit the hospital note the grand
Y-shaped staircase and cramped cells. Last year, local media outlet This is Lincolnshire reported that a property development firm has plans to build 68 news houses and 30 senior living properties on the site.
Beelitz-Heilstätten Sanatorium, Beelitz, Germany
A large complex of about 60 buildings, the
tuberculosis-sanatorium-turned-military-hospital Beelitz-Heilstätten was
built in phases between 1890 and 1938. The site in the Beelitzer forest
was chosen for accessibility from Berlin and the area's fresh, smoke-
and dust-free air, which would be therapeutic for patients, according to
SlowTravelBerlin.com.
As a military hospital, well-known historical figures passed through
its now-crumbling doors. In October and November 1916, Adolf Hitler
recuperated at Beelitz-Heilstätten after being wounded in the leg at the
Battle of the Somme, and in December 1990 Erich Honecker was admitted
to hospital after being forced to resign as the head of the East German
government. The complex was completely abandoned in 2000.
Mercy Hospital, Liberty, Texas
Built in 1930, the then-named Liberty Hospital became the Mercy Hospital
when the Sisters of St. Francis took over in 1935. The nuns took care
of the patients and lived on the premises, according the Liberty County Vindicator, and a chapel, nursery and delivery room were later built. The hospital closed its doors in 1963, and it was demolished in 2010.
Pripyat Hospital, Pripyat, Ukraine
Pripyat Hospital in Ukraine once served thousands of families of men and
women who worked at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear plant, and it received
the first victims of the catastrophic nuclear power plant accident on
April 26, 1986. It now lies in ruins, as if frozen in time—its rusty
cribs still stand in the maternity ward, and doctors’ appointment boards
still hang in the reception area. There are even drugs still laying
scattered around, according to UK newspaper, the Daily Mail. The hospital, like the city's abandoned amusement park, is just one of the remnants of the nuclear ghost town that is Pripyat.
Cane Hill Hospital, Croydon, England
When the Cane Hill Hospital (then called Surrey County Pauper Lunatic
Asylum) opened in 1883, it was the largest institution of its type in
the UK. Designed to be a self-sufficient community, the hospital had its
own fire station, water tower, a farm and vegetable garden with
greenhouses, according to AsylumProjects.org.
In its 130-year history (the hospital closed in 1991) patients related
to famous people reportedly checked in to Cane Hill, including Charlie
Chaplin’s mother. Many of the buildings on the 83-hectare site were
demolished in 2008. In 2010, a fire destroyed all but the front façade
of the hospital
Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, New Jersey
Greystone opened as the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum in 1876 as a state-of-the-art mental health facility, according to the Star-Ledger.
Later renamed to Greystone Park in 1924, the hospital suffered from
overpopulation. Four years after it opened, it was already accommodating
800 patients in a facility designed for 600. In 2000, it was announced
the hospital was closing in 2003, not only due to aging buildings but
also to negative press. There were accounts of sexual assault in a
hospital elevator, patients committing suicide, patients becoming
pregnant, and a twice-convicted rapist escaping. The eerie complex
served as a setting for TV shows like "House" and movies like "Marvin's
Room."
Severalls Mental Hospital, Colchester, England
Opened in 1913, the 300-acre Severalls Hospital housed some 2000
patients and was built with a network of interconnecting corridors
(staff were able to operate around the site without the need to go
outside in bad weather). In her book Madness in Its Place: Narratives of Severalls Hospital, 1913-1997,
Diana Gittins noted that there were women admitted and subjected to
electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) and lobotomy. The structures at the
hospital, which closed in 1997, have since suffered greatly from
vandalism. In 2005, arson destroyed the main hall.
Abandoned clinic at the University of Kiel, Germany
Photographer and Flickr user Jan Bommes
captured these images of an abandoned clinic at the University of Kiel
in Germany, the the largest, oldest, and most prestigious university in
the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. According to Bommes, the clinic
was part of the university's Department of Neurosurgery.
Brooklyn Navy Yard Hospital, NYC
Built in 1838 from Tuckahoe marble that may have been quarried by prisoners from the Sing Sing, according to the Navy Yard museum,
the 60,000-square-foot Brooklyn Navy Yard hospital features a Greek
revival style that is now succumbing to nature’s elements. Last year, the New York Times reported that Steiner Studios have committed $345 million to transform the hospital complex into a high-tech media hub.
Linda Vista Hospital, Los Angeles, Calif.
Originally called the Santa Fe Railroad Hospital, the abandoned (and
many say, haunted) Linda Vista Hospital in the Boyle Heights
neighborhood of L.A. opened in 1905 and closed in 1991 due to a decline
in the quality of care as doctors moved to other hospitals. The
six-story complex has since been the center of many paranormal
investigations and has a popular filming location for many horror-themed
movies. Developers are planning to convert the hospital into
apartments for low-income seniors, according to the Los Angeles Times
.
Renwick Smallpox Hospital, Roosevelt Island, New York
Designed by architect James Renwick, the 100-bed Renwick Smallpox
Hospital (later called the Maternity and Charity Hospital Training
School) opened in New York City's Roosevelt island in 1856. It was the
first hospital in the country to admit victims of contagion and plague,
and was the only hospital in NYC to receive cases of smallpox, according to the Roosevelt Island Historical Society.
Renwick's design for the hospital featured unusual triangular arches
for the windows and a tower-like structure in the building's center
(complete with Gothic details). The building was abandoned in the early
1950s. In 2008, as it was awaiting structural stabilization, parts of
the hospital's gray stone facade collapsed due to the effects of cycles
of freezing and thawing, according to the New York Times.
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