Records

i work in texas with the mentaly retarded and illness and this is horrible!! These records left out like is prison time for whom ever did not destroy them!!!

[admin edit: fixed it :) ]

Seems like it could of been so long ago.... Sadly it hasn't been that much time passed.

how long ago was it this place closed?
Did you read any records? How embarassing for any patients or familes still living.....

Where is this place?

This is seriously illegal for the operators of this hospital not to have transferred or destroyed the records when the place closed down. In an abandoned building it's also probably a fire hazard...

I would have hauled out as many of those records as possible. My kind of reading material!

Yeah, records and history interest me too. I use to read the job applications at The Chamberlin Hotel, on Fort Monroe. In Virginia, Motts you should check it out. It was burned down in the 1920's and they rebuilt it. Nobody did repair work on it though. They are about to gut it out. Rebuild it, and make it into some other building. But yeah, its really cool. Theres a casket on the 8th floor. And I even found a pair of yellow and brown stained panties on the 8th floor. Quite nasty, yes. We left then though.

I agree, I would pay for patient records also. Not to "rape" the patients privacy...but more the older records where patients were misdiagnosed and had to undergo major "therapy". Which helped them digress evan more.....I really want to get into pilgram state. Email me if anyone wants to come hkilbertus@optonline.net Right now I'm trying to pay the security guard to take us on a tour because supposidly so many insane people are still living underneath the building it's unsafe...I have lived on long Island my whole life...anyone with more news please email me...I love this stuff!!!

I also understand what people are saying about rights being violated...I am just so curious...I don't mean harm I am just eager to learn and to embrace not to harm. I would never try to riducule these familes or hurt them...I just want to learn what it was like...and so on.

I hate to say it, but I have been to an abondoned Mental Hospital in Waltham, Massachusetts called the Metropolitan State Hospital. And my friends and I have found records before. I don't think it's uncommon that people leave them at the abandoned sites. There's also a cemetary on the grounds of this abandoned hospital, and there are over 400 graves....ALL UNMARKED. Talk about right from wrong....

I don't know about your state laws, but records are open to the public once a person is deceased. The dead have no rights according to our government.
Jill ;-(

Actually there is some disagreement about how long HIPAA lasts and whether it is still in effect after a person dies. See:

http://www.hipaadvisory.com/live/kicking/kicking3.htm

motts please contact me i would like to shoot a documentary film on these sites frankielatina.com

My grandmother was in Pilgram State along time ago. She has been dead 20 years. I tried for a year to get her records and did finally but almost had to get a notary to do it and consent from any living family member of hers to sign papers.

Motts, I would love to visit cliffside, either with you guys, or by myself, I'm writing a screen play, based on a serial murder, who is insane and lives in an asylum ect.. and this is the perfect place for my research, any chance of telling me where it is located or at least the state it is in, I can be very generous with donation funds, as well as film credit if produced, Shawn irishlad40@hotmail.com

i had the oppertunity to walk the grounds of Pilgram state, been in and out of some of the building, seen alot of things worth talking about. i also seen an un marked grave yard,been in the tunnels underground, i could write a book with all the stories,a matter of fact a small time producer from south hampton made a B-movie around some of the stories it was aired on the IFC channle any one who wants some more info let me know

Hi, Michael, I would be interested in what you have to talk about, as per your email above,
you can contact me at irishlad@localnet.com
shooting for the stars
chow
Shawn

There's a year's worth of reading in there and/or if you got little kids...a year's worth of scrap paper!!

YO MOTTS, Did u ever check out the old seview hospital on staten island ive been in there, you should check it out. Plus there are plenty of places on staten island that are shut down or left to rot that u can check out.

this place is haunted

i'm sure this records are not supposed to be left back. patients records are normally bound to the professional discretion. it's more than just shame to have left them back and accessible to the public.

makes you wonder why they decided to leave the records. did they actually truthfully forget? did they think the building would never be broken into? perhaps they just didn't care (about the records, much less the actual patients?)

[Thump thump thump]

Do you have your helmet on?

I left it in the room with the weight reduction/torture device. :-(

...wat a sad feeling for these ppl...

this is absolutely insane.. it's so much reading, i would like to get to look at it somehow

a pyromanic's wet dream

so sad that people's entire life becomes a file in a box that no one wants to open.

so sad the despair and pain all testament to the fragility of this life

Uh, totally 'Session 9' style!

It reminds me also of 'The Ring'... and it has a strange, morbid appeal. I'd be curious to sit down with some boxes and open them.

I've noticed enough comments about "patients' records being left behind to finally respond. Twice I've come upon files, like in this photo. And both times the files were actually collections of receipts of various purchases necessary to run a large institution. Or thousands of electric and phone bills, etc. I'm sure patients' records get left behind sometimes, but there are lots of other records more likely to be left behind. Every box of files on this site isn't necessarily patients' records left for prying eyes.

While I stand by what I said above, I see that in this case they ARE private patients' records left for anyone to go through! That's definately wrong and I need to pay more attention to Motts' captions.

But alot have to be patients' histories. Doesn't it matter? Isn't it important? How many times have you heard of someone trying to find out something and you hear that the records were lost or there was a fire; now I can understand why.

If anyone has any information on Asylum locations that contain Art by the patients, please contact me. I am mostly interested in non copywritten material but am incredibly interested in any material related to Mental Institution Art Therapy, copywritten or not. Thank you kindly.

I hope you read some of them, interseting!!!!!

it's the same thing at letchworth village. tons of patient files just laying around. even some pictures of patients with the files... even dental x-rays!

wow, did you read any of those? where is this place? is it easy to get into? hard to believe that an adandoned place like that that is accessible isn't all vandalized and trashed. intersting shoot!

I suppose the State could argue that it still owns the building, thereby the records are in its possession, and if there is security patrolling the grounds then they have a very strong case that the records are in their possession under guard.... but then my mind is kinda wonky sometimes.

This is not only illegal ,but for such a thing to happen ,to patient's records is unexcusable. Everyone has a right to there privacy and that includes mental patient's. I am appaled by the lack of record keeping.

I work for my local medical society. I spend about 30% of my time trying to track down medical records. The idea that a hospital would just leave them is disgusting! As far as HIPAA regulations go, by law medical records are supposed to be SECURED. It doesn't matter if the patient is deceased. As soon as the hospital was slated to close to records should have been transferred with the patient. If the patient died, then the family should have been given the records. I spend so much of my time trying to find some goofy Dr. who moved to BFE without notifying his patients. I had one Doc who moved to France! Left his records in his office. Do you know how much it costs to call France? You would think people with 12 years of schooling would be smarter! Thank you for letting me vent. Interesting website. Please visit www.forgottenoh.com for another great abandoned TB hospital.

I would so get a coffee blanket and pillow and read for hours! Box by box

wouldent it just be the scariest thing to find a decomposing head in one of the boxes :p

Felyne says it all in the eyes of the law.

This is orgaized compared to some of the places you've shot.

lol, i live by taunton state and i herd all the records remained in the hospital until the late 80s i also herd lizzie borden's records wer stolen from there, must be worth a fortune now....

btw, you should visit taunton state.....i would love to see its inside

The Taunton photos will be wonderful to see. Motts, are the photos before the fire or after?

You guys act like seeing something like this is totally out of the norm...

i would grab me a suburban and haul all those boxes i can.

Records are normal. Also no one stole lizzies records and no one will now,

The records are kept under tight security, especially from those who would most benefit from them (family members) while an institution is operational. I've seen pic after pic of highly confidential files just left out in the open when the buildings are abandoned. There are a number of reasons for this. The worst part though is that the Doctors and Admin. KNOW that many times their treatements are not successful and they fear legal action, etc. They NEVER give up the records to family or other "outsiders" unless forced to by the courts.

Before fumbling around in those boxes, note the pipes above them wrapped in asbestos. What do you think is in the dust that is coating those boxes-just waiting for a microscopic flake to get into your lungs and kill you five years from now. Mesothileoma is the medical term.

i absolutely love this stuff, i mean it is horrible that this is happening and tha this stuff is being left behind.it almost adds to the eeriness of buildings when things are left behind. i know an old hospital in jersey is left almost untouched. the tables and bedds are there, medical records, surgical equipment laid out on the tray infront of operating tables, doctors white lab coats, everything. it looks like they cleared out fast. i am planning on going to as many places as i can this summer and exploring them all, i'm going to take pictures and videos as much as i can, if anyone has any places to go please let me know, i'd also be more than hapy to share pictures and or videos i take while on one of my trips. please contact me - weirdgirl11491@comcast.net
if any of them places happen to be in jersey that would be absolutely amazing! not just mental hospitals, anything really. thanks

If you go to the Paul Devers Mental Asylum in Taunton, MA, the patient's files are left in the middle of the floor in the cellar. People just forget, I suppose, must not be a big deal, if they cared at some point, they don't know because as it turns out, they're dead. go figure, right?

Identity theft anyone?

I loved this site and the hallway with the exit signs was both frightnening and inspirational.
thanks so much
oh, and I would have read a file or two...

Where are the records supposed to be shipped to? I presume it's state controlled, but where would thousands of medical files be stored?

i would so look through some of those lol neat picture

I'm not surprised records like these were abandoned. It gives us the impression time stands still for some. But for all places that simply leave everything behind (as Tina mentioned) the question should be Why. Why? I would like to read thru those files. But I fear I would find nothing but sadness and disillusionment. Electro-shock therapies, other uneffective and inhumane treatments. And those so traumatized they have left an impression in time, their souls burned into the bricks. May they rest in peace.

That is some interesting things.

Opps. sorry.

That was some interesting stuff right there. That proves us that our past is still alive in someway. The dead are also still alive in someway.

I'd like to see in the medical records it will remind ME of how our government bodies work to destroy poplulations of people.

is it true that the place is hunted?

How is this possible? Shouldn't someone have taken care of these? And why didn't they?

im from massachusetts and the hospital was closed in the early 90's

also it is possible for this hospital, this isnt the worste of what had happened there, why do you think it was shut down. it wasnt orderly.

i thought people would smarter than leavinng this records like that
that is so idiotic of them violating their privacy
i would like to go to these places and check this out

So that one more person could go and violate their privacy? ;-)

I am a student at the Center for Digital Imaging Arts in Photography. I have a class assingment with "Faces" as the general theme open to interpretation. I chose "Faces of Mental Illness" as my theme. I have a previous bachelor's degree in psychology and I am greatly interested in human conduct. I would very much appreciate any help or information as to how to enter one of these abandoned hospitals. Please email me at: francesnicole007@hotmail.com
Thank you very much!

Explore at your own risk!

The photographs and information on this site is solely for historic and enjoyment purposes only. Neither Opacity.us, nor any of it's affiliates, will be held liable for your arrest, injury, or death while at any of these locations.

Many sites here are private property and are patrolled by private security, and local, state, and Mental Health police, who may be armed and have the power of arrest! You are subject to fines and/or arrest if you are caught trespassing on these grounds. Many semi-active location security forces will confiscate your film/camera in regards to patient privacy. Please cooperate with security on grounds, they are just doing their job, and that should be respected.

These places are neglected and very dangerous; beware of collapsing structure, asbestos, lead, tetanus, toxic molds and crackheads

Some locations are not revealed to protect the integrity of the site and it's owner(s). Please do not contact me about directions to locations, hidden location names, or how to enter any of the properties.

http://www.opacity.us/disclaimer/

i was in there less then an hour ago and i googled the place and found this website.. i was in the buildings.. few of them are used for swat team training.. go figured are hard tax money going going 2 a good cause... the buildings i went into where the 1 reck room and a few other office buildings i went into the basments and friends and i found tunnles from 1 building 2 another.. we found tables.. we found chairs that strap people down.. i did not get to the "hospitle" not good with spelling s0rry.. we did not get there be cuz we played a game of cat and mouse with the "security" and we had 2 leave if u know wat i mean.. yes we got away lol anyways next time we go im going 2 the morg.. in the hospitle.. and we went to the grave yard and there is deffently sperits there.. we also found the kitchen and there was files in there on wat the people could and could not eat.. and we also found other files in other buildings and i hate 2 to admit the but i read a few of them.. when i saw what the did to this 1 man i read nomore.. its sad how they could get away treating these people that had mental problems.. eletric shock treatment.. i also found that room 2 infact the chairs are still there hooked up!!! anyways thanks for your site sir or miss.. im gonna rumish through all your pics! have a good 1!

wow..*sigh* I live in Oklahoma and there is NOTHING this interesting here to explore. You ppl from the east (seems like where all these bldgs are located) are freakin lucky wishI had a place even remotely as cool as these to look at.. <another sigh>

lil t,

The old Guthrie Hospital is great to visit :)

yeah, that one and one in Tulsa is the only ones I have heard of. There is one in OKlahoma City I have thought about visiting since I live about an hr from there, but it is infiltrated with live camera feeds from "ghosthunters." So I imagine it is impossible to not get caught in that one. The one in Guthrie I would luv to visit, and I probably will, but I wonder how many blocks away I would have to park to go unseen, as I would most likely have to go during the day.. (I would be too chickenshit to go at night :P) I think it is close to town...

btw Perkins, Thank u

lil t,
Not true, there are tons of old Missile Silo's all around Oklahoma.. those are pretty cool to go check out. Used to have one on some land we rented a long time ago for the barns to keep hay in. Just north of Willow... last I knew, the doors were still open from when we opened them.. took 5 cranes to open one door.

Ok I guess if I did look around a little bit I COULD find something else to explore, but like a lot of ppl on this site I want to see old hospitals, asylums, worlds I am very unfamiliar with.<stamps foot and whines> :) I did go to Guthrie (former comment) about 2 weeks ago, and was able to get in only b/c they were having a wedding in the once abandoned, now beautifully restored orphanage. ( I pretended to be apart of the wedding planners and snuck off, but was unable to get many pics b/c most of the doors were locked. ;) Visiting the old abandoned hospital down the street however is the perfect ticket to jail, for the Oklahoma PRI group has live camera feeds in the place which police frequently check for trespassers. I didn't know this at the time so thank goodness our "tour guide" forgot how to get to the old hospital. =-o Anyway, there are other blds I am looking at going to that seem very interesting, can't wait!! Oh yeah, if anyone wants to see the pics of the orphanage, email me: lil_T_376@hotmail.com

Apparently none of you who have posted commments had a mother who spent much of her adult life at North Hampton State Hospital. As a child I visited my mother there. My Graduate Thesis was based on my memories of visiting her there. I hurts me to hear many of you say you would love to go through the patient records. My mother's records are there and I would like to have them. Does any one know how I can get them?

I thought that patient records would have to be given to living family members, or destroyed for confidentiality reasons?

they should sell them on ebay, i'd read them. pictures would be cool. Its historical, forgotten people are sad.

Finally, a hospital that left behind some good information as to what happened there. If I ever came across a place like this, I'd sift through a few of those to see who all was there. It's really a creepy feeling having all those files so unprotected, what if the abandoned hospital was set afire by some teenagers? Then those file would be lost forever!

I can't believe they are still so neat like that.

I THINK IT IS VERY SAD THAT ALL OF THOSE RECORDS WERE DISCARDED WITH NO THOUGHTS OR REGARDS OR RESPECT FOR THE PEOPLE THAT WERE PATIENTS THERE. SOME KIND OF ATTEMPT SHOULD OF BEEN MADE TO GIVE THESE PEOPLE OR THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS THESE RECORDS. IT JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU HOW THOUGHTLESS SOCIETY HAS BECOME

im from sycamore,
they really got discarded? the records? ugh that is soooo stupid like a comment i read above the records of people related should get the records if they don't want them make an exhibit on it lots of people would love to read/see what happened to these people and what happened in the asylums. i would like to go visit one but most have been demolished.

I have heard of many incidents of the restraint tables being used to restrain patients for the purposes of electroshock therapy and at times even for prolonged tickling to exhaust patients who would be control problems. At times the tickling would last for over an hour and be continuous. Horrible tortures on these tables..

I . . . uh . . . oh hell, forget it. :-)

i would love to go threw them

Mr. Motts do you look through this stuff? or do you like to leave it as it is for privacy?

I so agree w/alot of ppl it*s so sad but @ the same time so interesting! so my kind of reading metiral 2! =D

i was in a state hospital in paugkeepsie ny. i was 10 years old. diagnosed as hyperactive. you want to know what went on?.. you are druged and straped in a bed til you get in a coma like state. your awake. you can move but you dont want to. otherwise you are forced to take thorazine that makes you pass out. then your half awake all day. they tie you to a bed or a chair if they even think your up to somthing. i was not insane. it was a mental disorder of allways needing to move around. even home i tosed myself back and forth to sleep. at that age there. your allways afrade. with all those people around you that are insane.. i did not belong there. my parrents couldent aford anything else. there are more horrors i did not put here. take it from me. do what ever it takes to stay out of a place like that. if you end up in there. do all you can to get out. i still have the mental scars to this day from being there. you do not want to end up in there. the first step to stay out of those places is to see a doctor at home. its there job to keep you out of them. by finding the problem befor theres no turning it around..

well..
whats wrong you all got cold feet when a ex pataint comments..
it wasent a mental illness it was non mental cured with the treetment only a place like those can do back in those days

I live right near this hospital and it is very hard to even drive into now. They have private security and they patrol reg. usualy in a black charger. They are not nice and will tell you to leave and escort you out. I have been in that building and have ran into homeless people and they are not very nice, they will mess with you.. I have been in the hospital many times but never found the file room. There are bullet holes on the walls and dead birds in there, the dust in some rooms are unbarable so I brought dust masks the 2nd time i went here. It def. has a creepy vibe and it is very easy to get lost since it sooo big. There are many buildings on the ground and some are in use for DCF and DDS. There use to be a building that housed violent boys who had commited sex crimes at a young age but they closed that down and it is used for something else. They have a respite center for DDS and there are many many signs that say state property. It use to be easy to drive into since the main hospital is all the way at the top of the hill, now the cops/secuirty are called right away if they do not recognize your car. This place is so much fun to explore, there is a autotorium and bed restraints and cells its crazy. I wish i knew the full history but oh well. Great pictures though Motts i love the site, keep up the great work! Did you get permission to go there?

That's so devastating how many records there were; I read some records online and the reasons for being committed to an asylum were so ludacrous. I mean, it was a different time, but it's so sad. People always say the Holocaust was terrible human torture and mass murder, which it was, but asylums take a back seat so much for no reason; they were tortured if they didn't think like everyone else or wrote with their left hand or stuttered, or whatever. v.v The boxes look so impersonal in the picture.

I would npt mind some one reading my records, if i was dead.

I Would Absolutley Love To See These, I was admitted to five mental hospitals in the past two years and i have always been interested in human psychiatry, me and my freind are probably gonna go their soon, Gas Masks and All

those should be burnt

my great great great grama went there...

My friends and i found patient records at kings park and we took abou 2 boxes of them some weird stuff, we found. its weird that these mental asylums didnt destroy these records, theyre supposed to. i mean i work in a doctors office and if we were ever to close down we would have to by law destroy all of the records.

I would like to know how I can find my mothers medical records since she was in several mental insti I was in foster homes I feel it's important for them to keep records,I want to know what happened to her? and what time line it was? how can I find these records?

A couple of boxes appear to have a 2008 date on them. Probably a "destroy by" date. Which means that, at the time the photos were taken, the files had some time before they were required to be destroyed. Still wrong to leave them where unauthorized people can have access to them.

I have been doing research on family history and found my grandfathers father was in this state hospital for 17 years and died in 1951 at age 86 at this hospital according to his death certificate. We have no idea why he was there, I owuld love to find some records on him. Any ideas????

I would love to have my Great Grandmothers records.It would answer so many questions we have about what really happened to her and what her issues were.We lose her about 1884, she died in 1924. She was at the Taunton Lunatic Asylum and I would hope some records are still there,but I have no idea how to get them.

Those records should be saved digitally for people doing family research or anyone doing research for a book. The paper records should then be destroyed, for they are expensive to keep in a safe, secure location as you can see here and at other locations.

I would love to just sit and read, I dont need to know the names, just wanna know what went on in these places...........................
Motts,
I wish you could have read at least some :(

Uhm...pretty sure the top right hand box says 2008. and I too have been in old places with abandoned records. If they are old they are scattered all over the floor or in boxes that aren't nearly so "new" looking....just my 2 cents

i wonder if secrets are in those boxes....

Please do not destroy these records. I have so many questions about a
GreatGrand Mother who fell out of sight in the 1890s. She died
as a pt. in 1924. If there is any clue as to what happened to her or where she came from in Ireland it would be of great interest to her family.

(By the way; William is not my real name. I still trying to keep the skeleton of my past in the closet)

As a person who spent most of his young life in mental facilities I can tell you we (as a society) still do lock people up "and throw away the key." It is very, very easy to get anyone committed, all you have to do is prove that they are a danger to themselves or others; then once the person has any kind of history of mental problems you can have them committed at the drop of a hat. As I became older I worked as a commercial plumber on quite a few remodel jobs at several hospitals including a some very, very old ones (100+ years). One such hospital is located in Washington, DC; during the remodel there I can across old storage rooms in areas that had been closed for asbestos issues, where I found many, many boxes of records. Also in the basement of one of the sealed building were flooded tunnels that when pumped dry revealed a large room with a dirt floor that had graves in it. It was later found out that during the civil war that one of the hospital graveyards was moved due to several high ranking officials and high ranking prisoners being buried there. It was originally intended that the bodies just be stored until such time as they can be returned to their final resting place. The reason they were buried was to keep down on the spread of scavenging animals and the smell. each grave was marked with a simple cross and a small brass plate with a number fastened to it. The numbers were then supposed to correspond with the name of an individual written down in a ledger. Unfortunately like most treasure in history, the ledger was lost or destroyed, nobody no for sure but it was rumored to have been lost in a fire; it was also rumored that some of the people buried there were famous leaders and the government has covered up the loss of their bodies with fake graves. (I will not state what leaders i have heard that were buried there, but needless to say it's unbelievable if the rumor is true.) Anyway back to the topic of the age of the records in the boxes in this picture; I'm 35 so the woman that said that all these patients were probably dead, your probably wrong. The mental hospital I was at when I was younger was opened in 1850 and is still operating to this day in North Carolina. I left that hospital in 1995 and my files were closed in 1997. So yes there is a very REAL possibility that the patients whose histories are in this photo are still alive and well.

my bestfriends great grandmother died there she was treated very bad and had died from being given the wrong medicine its pretty sad what these people went through..

Does anyone here know what happened to the patient records from Taunton State Hospital? I just recently found out that my great-great grandmother died there and would love to try and get her records. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Angela you can call the State Health Department and ask about the records storage procedures for hospital shutdowns. There may be a State Hospital licensing agency as well.
You could also see about going there and looking through these files since they appear to be abandoned.