OK, ~Me, But I need your address...

Well, sure, if you want to be logical about it... :D I'll send him an e-mail tonight and let you guys know if I hear anything back from him...

Well, I have two guesses: First, when steam condenses it actually raises the temperature of the surrounding air. By the same method, when water vaporizes it cools the temperature of the air. This could be the method to cool an area, although I don't know how it would work on a large scale.

The other option is that steam is used to run the engines that actually do the cooling. Anyone else know?

They were lost because of smoking? Seriously, though, I would imagine that they were needed somewhere else after this closed down, so they were taken off and moved. Anyone?

Yeah, I read that too, but I wasn't sure how it would fit in with something this old... It has to have been years since a letterpress has been used. If it was him, it would be interesting to get in touch with him and see what he has to say about this! Maybe he could shed some light on this mystery!!!

HIPAA is pretty new, so if this area clsoed down before HIPAA it wouldn't apply. I agree that they should have had more regard for their patients and should have taken these out, but at the time it might have been considered normal to leave those behind, and not insensitive at all. These might not have even been considered confidential at that time. It might have been cost prohibitive to move them to a new location, so they were left behind.

Then again, there is the possibility that this is administrative paperwork (order forms, employee info, etc) that truly wasn't important at all. It's like Lynne says, these employees were truly (usually) doing the best they could, and wouldn't abuse patients like this on purpose...

Looks like a machine we had to use in one of my high school classes. You would expose a metallic sheet to an image, run it through a developer, then load that sheet onto the drum, fill it with ink, and let it run. As I remember, ours broke down frequently, so part of the class was learning how to fix the more common things that could happen to it... Good to see one again after all these years!

This is still in the dentist area, correct? It looks so different in color than it did in your B&W panorama!

Motts - if this gives away any info about the site, please delete it immediately. I don't know what it means, just what I can read...

The top line appears to say "HENRI TTA HOWSE" (I'm guessing it should be "Henrietta, but is missing the E), which could be the name of the person in charge? The last word on the first line is "Operation". The next few lines are too blurry to read, but the second to final line says "Louis Mitler", and the final line says (I think) 1900. Motts, if you ever get the chance to take another photo of this, I'd be happy to try again!

Maybe those soap dispensers knocked the last digit down? It looks like they took out part of the "E" in welcome when they fell too...

I like how the bottom right window is open, when the rest of them are closed. Damn, it seems like I'm posting to all of these older ones, and posting on almost every image!

If you don't mind me asking, how did you manage to get this picture without catching your own reflection? It seems like such a straight on shot, that one would think you would show up somewhere in the window...

I first came to this site because I was interested in abandoned buildings (any and all). Since I have spent time reading the comments (especially Lynne's) I have changed perspective completely: instead of looking at abandoned buildings, I am experiencing the life that the buildings once had in them. Some of it was good, some of it was bad, and some of it (to quote Lynne) was just plain boring, but all of it was life. Thank you Motts and Lynne for reminding me that death doesn't precede life, be it in people or in buildings.

Was this taken with a digital camera, or was it scanned? I only ask because there are some conversion artifacts on the underside of the stairs, and usually your photos are so crisp I feel like I could walk right into them. I tried once, but I stopped after I smacked my face into my monitor... :D

Just out of curiousity, how often do you photograph just what is there, and how often do you move elements specifically for the picture? Not that it really matters, all of your pictures are beautiful, but I was just curious if you always found scenes like that, or if you had to manipulate any.

Dunric: I don't photograph (never had the eye for it), but I do use photoshop (actually, GiMP) extensively during my day. I've found that the best B&W photos I can get start out as color photos that are just ok, but which I convert to black & white on my computer. For some reason I've found that digital doesn't shoot as good in B&W mode, so I take it as a color picture, then use the "Colorize" option in GiMP to turn it into a crisp B&W with awesome contrast. Try it out some time (GiMP is free, so you can try it without spending hundreds of dollars).

"Danger: Keep Out" what a beautiful sentiment. Yet, even though all of the windows and other doors have been boarded over, this one hangs open in invitation. I wonder why they didn't board this one over too?

It brings a tear to my eye that no one (probably) will ever see the other side of that hallway again. A building that was once so alive with emotions, where people went about their (abnormal) daily lives, and now it is just a shell without a purpose. Great photo!

This is a great example of why developers are so reluctant to fix these older buildings up. It's cheaper to knock them in and rebuild than it is to do the extensive work to repair them. Sadly the money aspect wins out over the historic most of the time, and we see less and less of these beautiful buildings all the time... I wonder how feasible it would be to build a Kirkbride building today?

Every time I see one of these light from the doorway shots, I expect to see the shadow of a person in it. I am so happy that I haven't!!!

Maybe just the angle, but are those roses on it? If it was used in a play, that would make sense...

Just to throw in: Kirkbride was a style of building for asylums. It was named after the creator of it. It is most distinguished as being symetrical along the Y axis (when viewed from above). There was a large front entryway, then a short hallway going back on each side, followed by a long hallway with rooms. It continued in this pattern until the end of the asylum. They are usually ornate in a gothic sense, and (as you can see) beautiful for years and years after being empty. Check this out for more: http://www.kirkbridebuildings.com/