The story of one mental asylum’s history of inhumane procedures, unhealthy living spaces, and what it is today
Construction starting in 1858 and ending in 1881, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was originally built to be a comfortable and happy place for the mentally ill. Being the largest hand-cut stone building in North America, and sitting ironically on 666 acres of land, it was a plan dreamt up by Thomas Story Kirkbride. It would be a therapeutic hospital for all those that were deemed insane. What it became was the complete opposite.
The first patients were admitted in 1864, and immediately it became known for it’s cruel nature. Originally built to house 250 patients, it became overcrowded, with it’s peak headcount being 2600 in the 1950’s. Even in the years when it wasn’t at it’s peak, it was still holding way too many people. With so few nurses to tend to so many people, the care level dropped drastically. Maybe if only the true psychopaths were admitted, the overcrowding wouldn’t have happened. Most of the time though, people were admitted to this place for ridiculous reasons. These reasons included things like…
laziness
asthma
novel reading
parents were cousins
female disease
tobacco and masturbation (these two things were actually put together on the list)
fell from horse in war
imaginary female problems
politics
…yes, these are real things that could get you admitted at this place.
Though many of the reasons for being admitted were rather pathetic, the doctors ‘treated’ all the patients with about the same techniques. One of the most talked about techniques used in many mental asylums across the US during the years of 1946 through till the 1960’s (at least, legally), was the transorbital lobotomy. This procedure was invented by Dr. Walter Freeman. It involved ramming an ice pick like tool called an orbitoclast through the top of the eye socket. They would then gently pound it through the bone with a hammer. Moving the orbitoclast back and forth, it would separate the frontal lobe from the rest of the brain by destroying the white matter between them. This was thought to cure many mental disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, even just plain old teenage moodiness. It was easy to do, didn’t require a surgeon, and could be done in less than 10 minutes.
Other forms of treatment included hot and cold baths, electroconvulsive shock, and for those that were beyond curing, getting locked up in a cage and chains.
Starting around the 1940’s is when this place really started getting a bad reputation. People started inspecting the asylum and exposing it’s horrendous living conditions. Among their disturbing findings were bathrooms covered in feces, outdated and inhumane medical practices, and many patients totally nude. It’s reputation only became worse through the years, until finally shutting down for good in 1994.
Originally, the state governor was going to turn the place into a prison, but plans changed and failed, until it finally settled down as a tourist attraction. Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is now known as one of the most haunted buildings in the US. Many murders, suicides, and other deaths that took place there while it was in it’s prime, have led to a lot of paranormal activity, and not all of it is good either. Many ghost hunting teams have been said to pick up on paranormal activity that falls into the category of demonic. Yet still, many tourists love to visit this twisted piece of history, some even staying the night, just to get a glimpse at a ghost.
This gothic structure has remained alive for more than 100 years, and it’s action doesn’t seem to be dying off anytime soon. After all, hell doesn’t move on that easily.