Abandoned Asyum

NEW MOVIE!

"Kings Park: Stories from an American Mental Institution"
Lucy Winer & Karen Eaton
Buy it HERE!!!

A great movie about the struggle of one women who was placed in a state hospital for the insane. After all other options she is abandoned in Kings Park State Hospital. A perfect balance of political and historical facts coming together in three parts. A must see!!

NEW Book!!!

By Phillip N Thomas

The curator of "City on the Hill" website has
now come out with a book related to
the history of the Harrisburg State Hospital.

From the Flap

Dr. William A. Decker served with the Michigan
Department of Mental Health for nearly 34 years,
the last 13 years as Medical Superintendent of the
Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital.

Dr. Decker was elevated by the American
Psychiatric Association to the status of Life
Fellow in 1986, and to Distinguished Life Fellow
in 2003. In 1987 the Michigan Department of
Mental Health accorded him a Certificate of
Commendation and the Michigan Psychiatric
Association a Certificate of Merit. The National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill rendered him their
exemplary Psychiatrist Award in 1993.

From 1984-1989m Dr. Decker produced a
weekly public information program on health
topics, winning the pretigious Media Award from
the Michigan Mental Health Association as well
as a resolution from the Michigan State Senate
and a letter of commendation from Governer
James Blanchard.

Dr. Decker's book Asylum for the Insane: A
History of the Kalamazoo State Hospital
(Arbutus Press), was Michigans Notable Book
for 2009.

Dr. Decker continues to practice his specialty of
psychiatry, limiting his practice to forensic and
workman's compensation issues.

William A. Decker

"Upper Peninsula Hospital : A History
of the Newberry State Hospital"

by : William A. Decker
9781933926445

"Northern Michigan Asylum:
A History of the Traverse City State Hospital"
By William A. Decker
9781933926254

"Asylum for the Insane: A History of the
Kalamazoo State Hospital"
by: William A. Decker
9781933926049

Newest Additions
The newest additions to the Abandoned Asylum website is the Asylum Museums page. Click here to see information about museums around the United States.

Brattleboro Retreat, Vermont
Located in Southern Vermont this private institution sits almost unchanged from the early 1900s. From its large administration building to the Retreat Tower, built for the 75th Anniversary of the hospital this is a great place.

Danvers State Hospital Annual Reports

This site is a pictorial tour through asylum architecture and history. Please enjoy the pictures, postcards, artifacts, and other interesting sectors of this page. I have changed the look of my site to better organize the contents. Choose from the links to the left to explore.

The newest additions to the Abandoned Asylum archives are Danvers State Hospital, Foxboro State Hospital, Medfield State Hospital, and Rhode Island State Hospital.

Now on display Northampton State Hospital.

Abandoned Asylum would like to welcome back the
Pennhurst State School Page. Includes many current photographs, historic maps, postcards, and aerial photographs.

Thanks for your patience in this update.

Robert Foster

Asylum on the Hill:
History of a Healing Landscape
9780821419731

Other Books

Kentucky's First Asylum

Alma Wyenne Deese

Feature Asylum

Note : For the latest photographs see Asylum Photographs

Special Presentation

This is a very large file!! It is the complete book.

Feature Book

Asylum: Inside the Closed World
of State Mental Hospitals
by Christopher Payne

Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals is a collection of large-format photographs taken by photographer Chris Payne, who was granted unprecedented access to seventy institutions in thirty states between 2002 and 2008. Through his lens we see palatial exteriors designed by famous architects and crumbling interiors never intended to be seen again. He shows how the hospitals functioned as self-contained communities, where almost everything of necessity was produced on site: food, water, power, and even clothing and furniture. Since many of these places no longer exist, his photographs serve as their final, “official” record.

ISBN 9780262013499

Feature Links

Kirkbride Buildings

Richardson Center
Corporations