Looming over Danvers Massachusetts is one of the most exquisite mental institutions ever built in the United States; The Danvers State Insane Asylum.

Construction began in 1874, and the 70,000 square foot Kirkbride building was opened four years later. It's Gothic peaks and spires looming over the solid red brick are an incredible sight of beauty and a symbol of grandeur and fortitude, but at the cost of over $1 million to build, local residents resented the beautiful castle on the hill being given to the "insane" while they were living quite meagerly in town. The hospital at Danvers was a model for humane treatment at the time, with no restraint policies and boasted a highly regarded pathology laboratory.

The hospital soon filled with such varied types of patients that it soon became a problem; geriatrics, the mentally disabled, alcoholics, drug addicts, the criminally insane and all other people with varied degrees of mental illness were mixing together under one roof. By the 1950s Danvers State Hospital was reported to be just as bad as the notorious Byberry hospital in Philadelphia, using various shock therapies, lobotomies, and other methods to keep the overcrowded hospital under control. The original Kirkbride building had a recommended maximum capacity of 600 patients, and although some additions had been constructed, the hospital eventaully housed around 2,400 patients during the most strenuous years of operation.

During the steady decline of patients that most nearby psychiatric facilities were experiencing, the original Kirkbride building was abandoned in the early 1970s as the remaining patients were moved to the Bonner Medical Building across the lawn. Danvers State Hospital officially closed its doors in the summer of 1992 in response to the many allegations of overcrowding, abuse and neglect being fielded in the courts.

The movie "Session 9" was filmed on location in 2001, and brought a much attention to the old hospital. Security was increased to 24 hour patrols, and the boarding of all the windows. A fire was started inside the original structure in 2004, forcing firemen to enter the dangerous building to prevent the whole Kirkbride from being engulfed in flames. Since then, the place had been on total lockdown - constant patrols 24/7 with mandatory checkpoints, and the arrest of anyone caught anywhere on the grounds (they were publishing the arrests in newspapers to get their point across). An article about trespassing on the grounds states that over 120 people had been arrested since 2000!

Avalon Bay now owns the property, and redevelopment plans are in full swing to demolish all but 1/3 of the Kirkbride building and gut the rest for apartments. The sale of the property has been an ongoing battle for years now, the preservation society had filed a lawsuit in attempt to block the sale of the hospital, but it was ruled otherwise by Salem Superior Court.

2007 Update
The hospital has been fully converted to Avalon Bay Danvers, a condominium complex.