When we got back I immediately drove like a maniac to "classified location", near where I live and which I had not realized housed ruins of one of the oldest steel mills in the country! A very exciting find. I don't have pictures yet of that one. Unfortunately in this area the state likes to plant government and state buildings near these types of places. And therefore they are very often crawling with officers. So I only really got a good peek at the ruins. I think I will save them for a very early Sunday morning when the highway dept. (which just happens to be across from the ruins) is still asleep and the cops are groggy (I hope...).
I decided then to visit the Mecca of my Urban Exploration hopes and dreams, The Taunton State Hospital (aka Taunton State Lunatic Asylum).
Pretty much since birth I have wanted to get into this place. I got in once when I was very very very young, probably eight years old (The hospital was very nearly in my backyard), but only for about two minutes. It left a lasting impression. Soon after that we moved and they set up an electric fence around it.
So, this afternoon I pulled onto the property to get another glimpse of the beautiful buildings and found all of the gates open and the fence half down. And as I drove closer, the main building fell to the ground. I almost drove into a tree. Then I saw the sign, "Taunton State Hospital Demolition; Building For The Commonwealth!"
I was even more gutted when I found out that the state shelled out 1.3 Million on this little project, part of which I, unknowingly, helped pay for.
If I ever meet our governor, I will kick him in the kneecaps (I'm not entirely sure it's his fault, but I've pinned it on him anyway...)
I feel a little better knowing I took some of the very last pictures of Taunton State Hospital...
I decided then to visit the Mecca of my Urban Exploration hopes and dreams, The Taunton State Hospital (aka Taunton State Lunatic Asylum).
Pretty much since birth I have wanted to get into this place. I got in once when I was very very very young, probably eight years old (The hospital was very nearly in my backyard), but only for about two minutes. It left a lasting impression. Soon after that we moved and they set up an electric fence around it.
So, this afternoon I pulled onto the property to get another glimpse of the beautiful buildings and found all of the gates open and the fence half down. And as I drove closer, the main building fell to the ground. I almost drove into a tree. Then I saw the sign, "Taunton State Hospital Demolition; Building For The Commonwealth!"
I was even more gutted when I found out that the state shelled out 1.3 Million on this little project, part of which I, unknowingly, helped pay for.
If I ever meet our governor, I will kick him in the kneecaps (I'm not entirely sure it's his fault, but I've pinned it on him anyway...)
I feel a little better knowing I took some of the very last pictures of Taunton State Hospital...
Taunton State Now and Then
Waste Money, Destroy History indeed
Everything about this is chilling, especially the smashed out windows! What a beautiful Dome! It would be great to take some of my paintings there and photograph them with the main building.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your virtual tour!
P.s. How close could you actually get?
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ReplyDeletesunbridge "then", FAIL.
ReplyDeleteelectric fence, DOUBLE FAIL.
If you hurry, you might be able to get some pictures still, i was back there tonight, and it looked like some of the back buildings are still standing, but i don't think they will be for very much longer :(
ReplyDeleteAnd if you park across the street and run like mad into one of the open gates, you can get pretty close before people start screaming and running at you with sledgehammers :)
the pictures of its beauty, and all of the great memories i have of it are the ones i want to keep. i couldnt put myself to photograph the demolition. other than the male infirmary and most of the male wards, everything is gutted but is still standing.
ReplyDeleteits really sad :/
That fence isn't electric... I climbed it quite often as there was a period when I was visiting this place a few times a week. Its depressing to watch it get torn down. Here are my shots of it from the past year that I've been taking pictures, if you are interested. I have a few of the abatement as well
ReplyDeletehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/futureimpaired/sets/72157605689544641/
(That black and white picture of a breezeway is a different asylum, by the way.)
M- did you get to see it at all this week? I saw someone else who I think may have been doing some photography last time I drove by, I may have to scour the internet for that.
ReplyDeletekasserad- awesome shots! when was the last time you got in?
oh, also....yes, I realized that the b and w sunbridge picture is different this morning... obviously too modern. any idea which hospital this belongs to? It doesn't look like a Kirkbride, but I may be wrong.
ReplyDeleteno that was not me, might be kind of hard to find the images though. that sunbridge you had posted is from the harlem valley state hosptial campus in NY.
ReplyDeletehey gwenivere, they're saving the bridge for future use.
ReplyDeleteI went there today because I didn't realize that the buildings had been demolished. I was really confused because there was just the big black fence but nothing was inside. I really wish I could have seen it. The pictures look awesome. What exactly is in all the other buildings? And why was this part demolished?
ReplyDeleteThis kills me, I wanted to get in to take pictures but was never able to. I assume it's long gone now...
ReplyDeleteAnother black mark on Massachusetts...the blatant greed of this state of which I am no longer a proud resident of is embarrasing at best, in addition to the eagerness of local government to sell off these historical sites to cash-hungry condo pimps is disgusting to me.
ReplyDelete