Is that a window on the wall to the right? If so, was it secured to keep patients out of the hallway as well?

So, Motts. You must do a lot of traveling. I've noticed you've taken pictures of these places from all over the place. Anyway, I was reading the discription on the main Henryton page, and it's strange; this hospital was a place for African American TB patients, but why was it run by the Mental Health Commission? Just wondering.

It used to be that people with TB were sent out to sanitoriums in the country. In some old photos of Byberry, you see some people out on porches in beds. These were people with TB, as they had to be kept away from the other patients. Also, they thought that fresh air would help cure TB.

I live in Charleston, SC, and an outskirt of Charleston is Summerville. It used to be a tiny little village, and there was a TB sanitorium there for a long time. Of course, nowadays, Summerville is a large town, and is no longer the country. The sanitorium was torn down a long time ago, before my mom was born.

Have you ever heard of the writer Dame Agatha Christie? She generally wrote mysteries, and one of her main characters was a man named Poirot. You remind me somewhat of him, Motts, as you both catch site of the smallest detail.

What building is this?

This is the basement of Limerick Hall.

The Pennhurst Memorial & Preservation Alliance (PM&PA;) actually rewired some of the buildings to get back electricity. They even installed a new telephone box, until it was destroyed by vandals.

This was the Assembly Building. It was located away from the rest of the campus.

Do you know what building this was in? It looks like it might've been in the Assembly Building, AKA the auditorium.

Strange that they were in the hospital building. These desks were usually in Rockwell Hall, AKA the school building.

Do they even use these lights anymore? There are a lot of objects from pictures of the place from even the 60s, when nurses wore those funny hats.

What building is this in?

Was this the hospital? It might've been wing C in the hospital; it was condemned and sealed off because of fire code reasons. When you say it might've been a dormitory, it could've been one of the rooms where sick patients slept.

If this was in another building on the third floor, then that would explain this room being sealed off. All the buildings with third floors (not counting the attics or hte basements) had their third floors sealed off. It is unknown why they did this, although there is some speculation that it was only economical, as the heating couldn't reach the third floor.

You said there were sunflowers painted on the windows here. In that case this might've at one time been an occupational therapy room or a dayroom. The dayrooms were where the patients went during the day; they were usually hellholes. The occupational therapy rooms were where the patients could actually do something, like music or art or woodworking.

What building was this in? If this is Penn Hall, then this is where the staff lived. This might explain the more private conditions in the bathrooms. In most of the living quarters there were just communal showers with no covers.

That table at the back was probably a diaper changing station. Some of these patients wore diapers because they weren't toilet trained.

The hospital building was built up of 6 wings, labeled A-F. Wings E&F are one story buildings that look like they don't fit in with the rest of the buildings. Wing C is currently sealed off and condemned.

This institution was built after the abolition of slavery. But the patients did most of the work here. They worked in the farms, in the greenhouses, in the kitchen...they even helped the doctors in the operating room!

@Kathleen Fletcher
I'm sorry about all the atrocities your brother endured there. But I can't find any record of a Petersburg Training School in Petersburg, VA. Is there another name for it?

These are the steps in the Administration Building.

Look just above the staircase: doesn't that dark spot look like a human head?

Canada, surprisingly the best philly cheesesteak isn't geno's or pat's in my opinion. My favorite is a place by the river called Rotten Ralph's.

so that's how you get everywhere... maybe i should buy a cheap security shirt like that. Haha...Rekrats. I saw that too and all of a sudden i started hearing the "she works hard for the money" song in my head.

so jealous of your ability to go where no tourists have gone before... at least someone can get into these places and take great photos for the rest of us to view.

again motts... how did you get there? That is the best part of the building yet it is off limits. I would love to see you in action one day.