Medical

Do you know how many insane asylums are still in use today in New York?

Jeez...if I didn't know better, I'd say this was [ removed by admin ]. I scouted this place out but the police presence was daunting, so I neglected to enter.

I read that they wanted to turn the property into a recreation center with condominiums.

Hello Motts. Believe me, i'm not going to try to go to this place .. but do you have any idea as to whether the Hilltop State Hospital is also referred to as the Essex Mountain Sanatorium or not?

I believe Essex Mountain Sanitorium was completely demolished in 2000.

wasnt his place referred to as "the -blank- Hilton"???? please tell me im right motts :) this place has some kool history if its what i think it is.never been personally but have had some friends got to the "Hilton" and they are ery similar

Looks a lot like ------- state hospital.
You should go explore there Motts. Its in PA.

Ed, security here is somewhat lax. There is one cop car at the main gate. There is a backdrive way with no security that i've seen. I have yet to see any patrols.

The redevelopment plan is for condominiums, as well as a small amount of retail space. The recreation center issue has yet to be decided. Some say it should be here, others say it should be at a nearby abandoned gum factory.

Motts, what is the differance between psychiatric center and a forensic psychiatric center?

Motts,so is that the same as crimianlly insane? And thank you for answering my questions.

Heya CSA,

Motts is on the road for several days, but yes, the phrase "criminally insane" was replaced by "forensic psychiatry" or "forensic psychology."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forensics

Hey Lynne,thanks for the info.

hey motts,this is a bit unrelated to haverford,but have you ever gone to North Princeton Developmental Center?

I'm pretty sure I was here when I was very young. My dad took us to visit my cousin who was recovering from heroin addiction. Can you see it from Rt. 476?
By the way Motts, your work is amazing.

ya u can

Faceless, ugly building !!!

TEAR IT DOWN NOW !!!!!!

Signed: An American Soldier stationed in Germany.

Abatement and demolition are to begin soon.

GOOD ! Thank you Andrew for responding.

I hope that they turn this land into a nice park with trees and running water.

Signed: An American Soldier stationed in Germany.

I grew up near here. My mother did volenteer work at the hospital. She tells a story of a bridal shower for one of the staff members where someone had the great idea of dressing up two white mice as bride and groom. The mice escaped and for a while the mice were sighted around the hospital but none of the staff would admit they saw a mouse dressed as either bride or groom.

One of my class mates was sent here and a friends brother was sent here. It was a way of sweeping a problem under the carpet.

At the end my mother stopped going because she couldn't stand the way the patients were over medicated and no one would listen to her.

It's a shame how vandalized Haverford State has become, but i would agree with others that it's probably better to just take it down now. The administration building has already seen the commercial end of a backhoe (as of 6/23/07)

Hilltop is allmost gone i saw it on nov 18 they had bus tours

When i found out in 2006 thay this place was coming dowen i was mad and sad but i new it had to come dowen soon anyway

I heard that in 2005

Imagine that building with no outer walls, thats what it looks like right now.

didn't they demo all the buildings

Haverford demolished right?

all thats left is hilltop and the power plant, the power plant is destroyed from the middle downward, and hilltop is slowly being eaten apart

is it safe to explore?

I meant the Hitachi crane is eating apart Hilltop.

As of 1/17/08, it's all gone. I hate to see it gone, my first abandonment, the place i really cut my teeth as a photographer in, just gone...I'll never forget it, nor will us dedicated Havey "locals".

Thank you so much Mr Motts for getting here. This gallery and place opened up a whole new chapter in my life.

That sucks

I remember Haverford State i knew it was coming down in 2005 and Hilltop was my favorite building.

i am so mad its gone i loved going in hilltop .It was the best place in havertowen it relly sucks it is gone i hope the towenship is happy

What day did it come dowen in

1/17/08 Elt.

Thanks

You can't really pinpoint a day, it took a month and a half to bring that beast down. and thats NOT including the abatement which took about two months...

The final night that a fraction of hilltop was standing was 1/17/08. Ironically, i was coming home after i had just finished up my HSH tattoo session, and noticed a tiny chunk of the north wing remaining. Something definetly felt weird, but i didn't think it was gonna be completely gone by the next day. I was STUNNED to drive by on the 18th and see nothing but a massive pile of rubble.

fuck umm the constrution company they can go rott in hell for all i care

Will, you've gotta realize that as much as havey's demolition sucks, they are turning the place into a beautiful environment. The houses are gonna blow, but over a hundred and fifty acres are being preserved just for green space. Beats the living hell outta Byberry.

i hate them to

Wow i can't believe its gone. I have such fond and hellish memories of living at building # 9 and building # 4 for two 4 month terms. It saved my life but it was also hell at times. I remember sleeping 20 hours a day. I was on Melaril and sometimes thorazine. I was there when jody keane was there. Dotty cushing and karen van burean and there was one guy i forget who had the spaciest eyes and wild hair that was like lighting had hit him. I also miss carol bremiller and another older female with the last name baer from east lansdowne pa

Oh there was also maggie who was the cutest little woman without teeth who smiled so sweetly. Rod Stewart had just written the song maggie mae and we would sing it to her. Many times i volunteered at the bowling avenues. The cafeteria was a great hangout. I loved getting the paper dollars good for only buying at the cafeteria. I remember when a neighbor named grabor graber from springfield delaware county threw a chair out the window of building number 4. I remember when my neighbor Steve gentile was thrown in there for being gay. What a shame being gay was back then. I was there for suicide after being caught for wearing womens clothes. I later had a gender change which confirmed my early childhood needs to resolve my GID. Dr Armstrong was a tough Dr and she ran building number 9. I loved a few of the staff who played cards with us during the lonely holidays. I remember we always thought we were the normal ones and the rest of the people outside were the crazy ones. I still think we were right. I was institutionalized and loved living there and i never wanted to leave but at the same time i was an embarresment to my family who wanted me out. I remember walking to my grandmothers home which was only a mile away then i would walk back after getting some food and be back and never caught. I wonder what happened to the black man from chester Pa who wanted to screw me as a child and who was there because he was being released from prison for murder and they wanted to get him to be normal and not want to have sex with males. I never did have sex with him and well i am not interested in men. Oh i remember the big giant black man who worked in building number 4 who would throw people into seclusion. Also the tall lean black man who taught me how to play chess at 12 years old. I never did go to high school but many years later i got a GED and then later went to college and got 2 associate degrees in science.

Yes oh how i miss haverford state mental hospital. Please email me if anyone from haverford state mental hospitals building number # 9 reads this. I was there in 1969 - 1970 - 1971 . Email me at danielleeee@hotmail.com i would love to talk to some of you again :)

Wow, that's an interesting story, D!

that dumd new park open there and the homes are ugly looking to

Now THAT was interesting, 'D"!
Hope you found some other people who were there!

So far i haven't reached anyone but i would love too. Yes i have lived an interesting life. The time at haverford was only a tiny part of a strange life that i somehow survived and am still surviving.


PS: If you email me put "haverford state" in subject line so it doesn't get deleted

oh here is some more of my story below talking about a old mall that was torn down. it was called the B A Z Z A R


I remember the early yrs from 63 to 71. I was 8 in 63 and had gone there a lot with my older brother and then neail gallagher. We use to climb in and out of the clothes shelves in many stores. They had those sliding doors and we would stick our hands out and touch people and they would freak out and then we would climb over thru them into others and the people couldn't find us. We laughed so much doing that. It was like our favorite thing to do and it gave us a interesting view of the soon to be released clothes that wasn't yet up on top of the cabinets.
Neil and Billy and Jody keen and me and john masters would also roam the tunnels under the bazzar that would go up under the parking lot and acrodd thru to baltimore pike to the creek. When it rained hard we would jump in the creek furthewr up in westbrook park and ride down to the tunnel crossing before it would go under the baltimore pike and under the parking lot or else we would drown. So we had to jump out real soon before that tunnel. that was scary but fun. I would grap a tree limb behind Jody's house which was just about 20 houses left until the tunnel would come up. I later built a raft and floated the creek that went under bishop ave by holy cross. I loved those wild days. I also was kinda daring because when i was 8 i was at the "candy bar" on baltimore pike where the dunkin donuts is next to springfield ford now which use to be a field for the circus. well there was a family from maryland who i tricked into giving me a ride to maryland. I told them my parents forgot me because i had 6 other brothers and sisters which i did. When we got to maryland going down the old baltimore pike in 1963 they asked me where i lived and i said i actually lived in Pa which i did right behind the candy bar. I then gave them my phone number and they called my mom and she told them to drop me off at a 2nd cousins home and so i stayed there a week until my dad came to get me. that was the greatest time i had. It was like a vacation for me which we never had. I also remember neal putting a piece of paper under kennedys foot to get his foot print at a gathering at the bazzar. We were small kids at the time.. Neal also got the first ticket to the new movie theatre next to the bazzar when it opened. Billy got number 2 and i had number 3.
I also remember those half doors at the mens room and that man who would hang out there.. Yes it happened back then too strange men who tried to mess with us kids.. reminds me of sister mary sarah who messed with me at holy cross in the basement of the convent. yukkk Yes the bazzar was where i hung out during my early yrs and then i left home as a runaway on 14 yrs old and traveled the usa before the interstates were created. Thankfully i got out of there because many of my friends suffered at the hands of hard drugs etc etc and well i survived those tough years. Neal went to alaska and i went to calif. We both survived the influences of the Bazzar with all those who did hard drugs and huffed spar var and drank romalar cough syrup etc etc etc
Yes the bazzar was fun as a small child but as we got older it became a crazy place with many who were like small gangsters who talked about going to jail and about a shootout with guns on top of the west brook park bowling lanes in the late 50's and well i didn't want to fall into that lifestyle so i knew i had to get away before i too got sucked in to the gangster mentality.. i also knew to stay away from cities as i hitchiked the USA and lived in salvation armys at peoples homes in their guest rooms or under bridges wrapped up in a roll of plastic.. yes my wild life stories continued and still continue but alas i survive and survive and survive .. life has been very very B A Z Z A R

Oh yea we also used an old wallet with fishing line and would drop it in the hallway and stand in a store out of sight and when some person would reach for it we would pull it and run and laugh all the way around the bazzar.. roflmao