The hospital first opened its doors in 1904 in Norwich, Connecticut. It was built in an idyllic location chosen for its therapeutic properties overlooking the River Thames.
The Norwich Insane Asylum was built isolated from civilization, which worked to its benefit as it began to grow during its early years sprouting new buildings that accompanied the original construction (see aerial view of the hospital here). These new construction projects included patient wards, staff cottages, laboratories and workshops. All of the structures were interconnected by a large network of underground utility tunnels. These tunnels transported electricity, hot water, and patients to various areas on the grounds. The hospital remained self-sufficient, almost like a small town, with its own power plant, pump house, working farm, kitchen, theater and church.
Over 3,000 patients and 1,000 employees were residents on the asylum grounds in the 1950’s.
Slowly patients began to leave Norwich State Hospital due to deinstitutionalization and it permanently closed its doors in 1996. Since then time has basically stood still on the property with a few exceptions. Currently there is talk about converting the grounds into a theme park, but nothing has been set in stone.
After a long tedious drive we leave the car in a commuter parking lot close to the buildings. Ever the vigilant group of explorers we notice a State Trooper making his rounds and dive into the forest for cover. Luckily we outsmarted the police yet again and after regrouping walk along the Thames River for a few hundred feet. We finally see the abandoned pump house looming in the distance and decide to make this our entryway into the campus.
This site has a reputation for being well guarded, well patrolled, and does not take kindly to trespassers. I am always on edge when exploring across the Atlantic and the numerous “State Property – No Trespassing” signs that litter the grounds did not bode well for my paranoia. Instead of exposing ourselves above ground to security and prying eyes, we decided to take the underground route through the utility tunnels.
Using the tunnels we explored many buildings without ever being forced to go outside. This method of travel was soon confirmed to be the safest. On our first attempt to venture outside we were only a few feet away from a security officer in a black uniform. Fortunately he didn’t look our way and we quickly receded back into the tunnel network. For a while we hid in the abandoned theater so we could look around the campus without being seen.
This encounter with security dampened our spirits and made our visit a whole lot shorter than we would have liked. We made our grande exit through the empty chapel, this allowed us to avoid walking back through the forest. As we were walking back to the commuter lot to pickup our car we noticed the State Trooper had been watching us as we suspiciously walked down the road. I wonder where we went to and were coming back from?!
Archive document introducing a new therapy (click to enlarge):
Special thanks to Dr. Bob for sharing the old postcards.
Agreed..The comments made a few weeks back were truly not in good tact on my part..But last nights reference was for personal interest I am sure. Sparkles knows what bomb is looking for..as do I. It's not my business to start blabbing off about other people's personal interests and what the purpose of Said information is used for. Being that 90% of what we talk about on this board is history..I doubt it would be looked into deeply by "the man" ..The users of this site take a huge risk at any rate posting. ( Urban explorers ) ..we risk police,security,public eyes..the works. It's an open forum for pretty much anyone to come to and make up a name and say what they feel. Most of the time if people are acting a fool good ol' JPT will straighten them out..and they disapear With that said.. Truly things have taken a turn here..people are acting like people. It feels good to drink the morning coffee and catch up on back posts.
Donna- You would never be referred to as riff-raff here..You've come with some good knowledge to bring to the table. You may not that your experience with Norwich is a "big deal" however of all the people here YOU have had first hand accounts dealing with the patients directly. Hearing the hustle and bustle of Norwich in it's last years of operation. To me anyway ..that IS a big deal. I have talked to quite a few "former" nurses or claimed patients at this point..after sifting through the Bullshit ..you have nothing you can use. Most people tend to tell you what you want to hear..rather than their personal stories of the site. What a rush it would have been..walking through Lodge or any other building at that time..and seeing the daily routines of the patients and staff..Sure..at the time it may have pulled on your heart..or felt awkward..but in reality you have experienced something that most of us here search for in debris..Trying to prove or disprove most of the stories left by the decayed history of this site.
Nice to see a more agreeable series of postings. Something I seem to have encouraged a while back, as I recall....}:-{)>
BUT, that little burp about your interest in children could be taken in a very bad way, especially in lieu of the recent child porn/ assaults that seem so prevelant in the papers today. From what I have read, there are several law agencys taking a hard look at the Norwich area regarding any improper interest in children. And they have been tracing people back thru internet interests. I have seen your place of business, name etc posted on this site, so caution would be advised. Much as McStabby changed his handle with the recent fires, thou mightest consider thine words ere thou posteth them! I'm sure you posted that with a much different intention.
Ah Pub good find on the additional info on sheet restraining, they probably did mean that instead of what I said it was. We called that papoosing and yeah we did it too. Those logs are really interesting, love to know more about them.
Sorry Pub, your post said West Haven and I said East by mistake.
Thanks for thinking I am not so much riff raff. Actually you guys really are posting some good stuff, well thought out and interesting and you got me coming back for more. Hope we don't blow up that guys bbry that bad with the amount of comments this site has now. But as you so rightly speculated earlier GH is going drive a lot of traffic here. I found the place looking for the complex map because I was trying to remember how far the power house was from Lodge, cuz as I mentioned I really thought they were in Lodge when it was the "unknown". You guys confirmed that for me and I loved it! So thanks.
Makemyday--yeah you are a bit young if you think that Uncas is all about drug treatment and houses. That is what the place ended up being in its last years. I do think they still do drug treatment there, but when I was working in that area it was a huge complex just like NSH with many old buildings in disrepair and hiding behind years of overgrowth. We also went there a lot because UCONN medical center operated their radiation treatment facility there and we would have to take patient's back and forth for that. You have to drive further back in the complex to find all the hospital buildings which are past some of thse houses you refer to.
Pub I think it would be great if you or Sparkles wanted to look into Uncas, I think you would find some juicy stuff there. The large multi floored inpatient building was still in operation when I was working in that area and it is where you were sent to die if you had a terminal illness and had no money for a nursing home or other type of care or if you couldn't get a rarely available bed at CT hospice in Branford. When it was built it was one of 2 main (there were a couple other smaller complexes like Seaside in New London) TB Sanitoriums. The other one was Undercliff in Meriden which was turned into the Altobello hospital for wayward kids. When I was taking patients in and out of the inpatient facility the terminal illness that claimed most everyone in the wards then was HIV/AIDS. Some cancer stuff was on other floors but at the end the big wards were all HIV patients dying horrible deaths and then silently forgotton. That place is surrounded by death and sadness, I have had paranormal experiences there and some I will never forget as long as I live.
publish me. this thing i have with kid's at nsh could be personal thing if you know what i mean
Diapers to the ceiling you say? ..I will probably pass on Bell then.. I look for the more juicy stuff.. It would take Brains sitting in formaldehyde jars to really get my blood going anymore. The diapers you saw were more likely meant for geriatrics (elderly) more than they would have likely been used for kids. Bomb..what's your interest with kids being held at the Norwich Site during it's operation anyway? A lot of you posts are centered around kids being patients there..I will dig into it a little bit next week for you..I have to do my write-up for Norwich and Ct Valley.. Maybe if I come across any information about children I will let you know.
thank you i mean being good not fucking with anyone hey if you get down nsh in bell there is a room with dypers pilled to the ceiling when i say this it made be so sad
What exactly do you mean by "goody goody thing isn't half bad" ? lol You've been tolerable on forbidden lately..I will give you that. Which is why nobody has been making jokes in your expense..me especially.
you know this goody goody thing isn't half bad but being bad is fun to lololo you know
I will have to look into that. I don't get out that way enough.. Even if I did..I would get side tracked and sit in the commuter lot rather than going to the library..
hey publish me there is a book in the norwich libary writen by a head doctor which is all about nsh from day one i think you would find it a good read let know
I hope our buddy Slyv doesn't have an RSS feed programed to his blackberry lately..Norwich alone has climbed way over it's normal 5-10 posts a day..I remember 2 weeks back I was boasting about getting the 1000th comment. lol I could picture him exploring brussels high-rises and having his blackberry inform him that his Norwich page has lost it's damn mind..lol
when an were man
thank you i was just saying that about kettle an bell was also a children's ward also from what a was told if you did not make it out of kettle an you were put in a back ward "you were now a lifer "
Just out of curiosity..why the reference to East Haven in your reply?
hey mcstickynuts can you do any better then LABOMBA AN BOMBER come man hey by the whey do you stick your son aka MC STICKY"SON" LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
Donna your leaving some amazing posts here..I don't usually get to say that about most of the riff-raff that comes and goes when they figure out we're not some clan that help's people break and enter. -Restraints. In the logbook they talk about sedation and time lapse. The log reads -patient name and where patient was being tranferred to..then states when sedative was given and when patient was transferred. Interesting enough..however you have to wonder if this was just the procedure for transferring patients in the 40's..I also dug a little bit about "sheet restraints" and found pretty much what you explained..However Fairfield Hills Hospital which was in operation around the same time as Norwich..explain's sheet restraints as patients being tightly wrapped in many layers of sheets in a cris-crossed fashion..Interesting?
Kettle building- Now sure..Geriatric units aren't all that interesting..bed pans..and crazy old people stories..great however..I looked deeper into Kettle after the building turned me over from complete skeptic to total nerd. There is an article which stated a woman was scolded with nearly boiling water while being bathed in the lift style bathing units. Controls for these tubs are found behind the units and temperatures can reach nearly 230 degree's. I have a photo somewhere of the control's for these units..anyway..We took a corner and went down a flight of stairs..as soon as we hit the landing we heard that scream you would hear in a horror movie. Kettle should have been investigated.
Children's ward- I too have looked into this..Inside the Russel building there are many many classroom settings. A few of which had the alphabet border surrounding the decayed walls. Leads me to believe that either way there were children on site.
I really really like how you reference that "the crazier you are the further back you go" Most of the buildings to the rear of the complex are usually ignored by most explorers it seems. I too..don't venture to far off to those buildings mostly because I like to make an entrance and disappear from security's prying eyes. The last thing I need to screw up my historical digging would be a trespass issue. But that is good information.
What is the sanatorium your talking about in the Uncasville area? I possibly have heard of it..but without a name I can't explain to you why exactly it hasn't been explored. I have recently explored 3 sites all over CT ..well known hospitals for a book Myself and another forbidden colleague are in the process of writing up. Maybe this terrifying location could be used as well..?
Hey, so would you be interested in sharing what stories you know, through email or something if you don't want to put them here?
Idk bomber, there are alot of good spots to shoot a show there that they missed out on.
Both my parents worked there in the 70's and til they closed, then they continued to work at Uncas on the Thames. Not that I know very much about either of these places (i'm still pretty young) I have some pretty effed up stories about NSH. Not so much about Uncas due to the fact that it mainly houses, yes still does, people rehabilitating from drugs or alcohol. It is a come and go situation, no locks on the doors there, no torture treatments, etc. I used to visit my parents at work at both locations, and actually remember "hanging out" with some patients, in the enclosed yards they were able to go out in during the late 80's to smoke or just get fresh air. Like I said, not too much info, just wanted to share.....
hey donna v-md say hi to one of those f-ed up kids small world ha
Pub--do some googling on how the cemetaries in New Orleans work. They are mostly all above ground crypt burials but they have the unique ability to actually be accidental crematoriums because of the heat. bodies decompose to ashes in about a year and the ordinance states that after a year and a day the crypt can be opened and the remains swept back into the "couvre" (sp. I think) to make room for another body. In a family crypt you just get swept back in with your ancesters, but in the paupers crypts (wall length mausoleums) you get swept back into the "couvre" with folks you never knew and the plaque get changed to the name of the new guy they stick in there. I am pretty sure the new mausoleums work the same way no matter where you are but it may just take longer to reuse them due to the temp where ever they may be. Like in East Haven, it would be more than a year before you could do the sweeping for sure!
I do not know of any personally, never had to respond there for that. Wouldn't surprise me if there was tho. I know they had the children's wards at one time. In my day we took all the f-ed up kids to Natchaug though.
Bomb--go back to my first post. The only new building the state allowed them to see was Ribicoff (research building) the rest of the stuff was all the old original buildings where you can easily explain away any evidence of mistreatment by saying "that was the standard of the day". The state letting them in Ribicoff was also a PR move by the state to show the viewers that the place was more of a "lab" rather than the scary torturous place it actually was. Take a look at where that building is in relationship to the rest of the complex. Way the fuck away from everything else. Why do you suppose that was?
By the time the 80s rolled around Kettle was the administration building with maybe a couple of floors that were wards for the elderly dementia patients who couldn't stay in long term care cuz they were just too much to handle. This was back before there was money to be made in Alzheimer's wings in nursing homes. Kettle was boring at the end of its life. Remember I said the crazier you were the further back in the buildings you went so the state was not about to let them openly film in russell, lodge, bell whatever because right up to the end the conditions were worse than a zoo for those patients. Considering that was during the latter half of the 20th century, the PR shitstorm that would be for the state would be crazy. So they got some good footage in Lodge, but I can guarentee you that to show that door move the state had them say it was the "unknown" building. Plus you know John would have told them which buiding it was, just by Jay's description of where the girls took off out of the tunnels, did you notice how that reveal was chopped all to hell in the edititing process.
hey donna v-md do you know of any baby's being born at nsh let me know
hello donna -md you are so wright
hey publish me sorry just doesn't sound right just think about kettlle an bell
Hey guys, well you all got me hooked on the good conversation here.
Sparkles--I will email you, only I don't know what I can provide you that you guys aren't already experiencing yourselves by going in there now that it has been closed for so long. I only had the "pleasure" of going there when it was open. I've never experienced paranormal, just pretty much felt it on every corner. What I experienced was live and in color creepy.
Pub--Glad I could help with that sheet restraint thing. Mechanical restraints would be the padded leather or metal cuffs they would use. If you see any mention of chemical restraints that would be any number of drugs they could have used. Back when I was taking patients in and out of there it would have been Haldol. I am not sure what they would have used as the drug of choice in the 40s. If there is any medical stuff I can help you out with I would sure be willing to try for you.
As far as TAPS goes, I think they are a legit group and not frauds. I don't think they engineer anything for the cameras and I do think they debunk more than they find stuff. That to me lends them credibility. That being said, they do have to somewhat be a slave to ratings and create a TV show atmosphere so fans (like me) have something to get excited over and tune in. As the technology improves the shows take a different track than when they were first on. Personally I like them more now because there is a lot less of that lets throw in spooky music and subliminal skull faces in every cut away, and they also have pulled out from filling time on stupid shit like why Brian was an asshole. They just stick to the joints they go to and do their thing. When they get a chance to help a family out like last week that is when they feel they are doing the most good. Getting to go to a cool place like NSH and spend 3 days there probably did make them feel like kids in candy store. I thought they did a good job. Are they going to find all the stuff like you guys did in 3 days no probably not, but think about it you guys are actually experts in that joint now, you know it and feel it like the back of your hands. Just like an angler knows exactly where the fish are, you guys know where to go to document good experiences. Being that they are folks with a camera crew and the backing of a cable crew they need to get permission from the state to go where you guys can go freely, and they could never have show the state in a bad light. Notice how they only mentioned the "possiblility" of animal experimentation once. Well I can assure you there was 2 and 4 legged experimentation going on there for years. Oh and that rumor about the trains and bodys going out from there, that may hold more water than you think. It certainly isn't true now, what bodies do they really need to get rid of now that the place is closed. But I can tell you that rumor was in place when it was open and it could be supported with fact depending upon who you found to talk to.
I noticed no one jumped on the Uncas on the Thames bandwagon when I mentioned it earlier. I noticed it isn't covered on this site either. Afraid to cross the river? Insane Asylums are indeed fun, but when you want creep factor you want to go where 1000s died, no better place than a TB sanatorium....I'm just sayin.....
This may sound creepy..But I am just curious.
Modern day mausoleum's. Now I have been to maybe a handful of them..Most are pretty large air conditioned buildings..Walls made of marble and the same Jesus statue with the quarter slots to light a candle. ..no mystery there. However..My curiosity for these buildings was curved.. Older mausoleum's to my knowledge were usually much smaller. Most of which didn't hold more than a single body..or a family..the older style mausoleum's in New Haven and West Haven..have the bodies in an above ground concrete casket. The newer facilities however..are smooth marble walls which contain simple plaques with name and dates.. --here's the thing..Origionally my belief was that the marble block where this plaque sits would be where the bodies were inserted into the wall.. but I saw people unloading a body from the hearse in the rear of the building..I sat there a while after seeing them..they left..and never had to disassemble any part of the wall etc..there was a new name plate on the wall with a recent death date as well. Being the U E that I am..I walk around the perimeter to check for other doors and maybe a rear access..NOTHING!!.. was wondering if anyone has any idea how these places work..Any idea's?
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