on September 17, 1988:"In May 1987, the Commonwealth Although some dedicated, caring, and hard-working staff at the Byberry mental hospital truly cared for the patients, a number of bad employees carried out abuses that remain disturbing to this day. One especially frightening urban legend concerns a former patient who reportedly still lives down in the tunnels. This facility became a hub for inhumane medical practices, including lobotomies, electroshock and the abuse of psychotropic drugs. Did they set a cap on the number of patients they were willing to admit? Next First time user? During its tenure as a psychiatric hospital it was known by several names- Philadelphia State Hospital, Byberry State Hospital, Byberry City Farms, and the Philadelphia Hospital for Mental Diseases. Byberry was scheduled for demolition in 1991, but bulldozing was brought to a standstill when vast amounts of asbestos were found within the building's walls. However, in lieu of military service, they worked civil service jobs for the state to satisfy the need for limited manpower. Deutschs account included stunning photographs of such scenes as the male incontinent ward, and documented the saddest and most terrifying parts of the huge institution. My mother was hospitalized February 17th at the age of 15. At the time the CPS unit was established, Byberry had one hundred ten vacancies in a male attendant staff, of their one hundred seventy-three positions. The C buildings were the oldest. "Thousands spend their days - often for weeks at a stretch - locked in devices euphemistically called . of it's buried dead speaks volumes in a case like this, and the fact that Benjamin Rush Park is still owned by the state draws The site of Byberry was originally intended for patients suffering from Consumption (Pulmonary Tuberculosis), who would be sent from Old Blockley, and thus free additional space for patients suffering from chronic and undifferentiated insanity. With a small amount of remaining staff who still chose the option to live on the grounds, W7 was re-designated, bricked off from the connecting tunnels, and turned into staff housing as well as staff offices and make-shift lounges. After a brief civil inquiry, Byberry City Farms was selected as the new site of the "Philadelphia Hospital for Mental Diseases" shortly after its founding. Albert Kohl was the first of four sons of Jacob and Mary Kohl of Northern Liberties. there beginning in 1941. Get to know Philly from the inside out with this collection of over 75 full color photos of 14 abandoned locations. 1879. What started out as a working farm for a few unstable patients at a time in 1903 eventually grew into a multi-building campus. ground", although the location isn't quite correct. According to the Friends of Poquessing Watershed and the book "A History of Byberry and Moreland", there Due to the mass population of patients and the lack of trained staff (even those who had good intentions), the hospital was chaotic. This is only one of several cases in Philadelphia Following the partial completion of the east campus, construction for the west campus began in 1913. In the 1920's and 30's, inspection after inspection It was once a huge complex. 1878- Apr. He was buried at Glenwood Cemetery, near 24th and Diamond in the Strawberry While many modern psychiatric hospitals arent malicious, institutions before the modern medical era were often destructive and traumatizing. Governor Casey proposed $30 million dollars from the states budget in 1990. In 1985, the hospital failed a state inspection, and was accused of misleading the inspection team. website is a collection of information based on personal interviews, archival research, material found inside the buildings, were comprehended by only few. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996. The 130-acre campus of Byberry State Mental Hospital sprawls across the Somerton section of Northeast Philadelphia like the rotting corpse of a giant. The period in question is byberry's initial years under city control. The actual announcement of the closing of Byberry was made From its beginning, Byberry provided shelter and custodial care, usually at the most minimal levels. Housekeeping fell behind, bedding was unwashed, and floors were sticky with urine. Not only were they not prosecuted, they were kept on staff at a higher pay grade. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1916. A week later, truckloads of trees and other natural growth clinging to the buildings was removed, and discarded. Glenwood Cemetery was laid out by the Odd Fellows of Philadelphia in 1852. Inc. was hired to remove hazardous materials; such as lead paint, and asbestos. of many young children in the late 19th century. In the wake of the closure of such a large facility, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania also developed a number of community outpatient clinics for the psychiatric care of the poor in the city. This article was The east campus, which held the "incurable" males, was largely completed in 1912. They were The south and east groups were renamed to the first letter of the group, so the east group was now the E buildings and the south group was now called the S buildings. The city responded by sealing the buildings up with plywood and changing security contractors. 1951. disturbing mental asylums of decades past, famous actress who was involuntarily institutionalized. Connecting the Past with the Present, Building Community, Creating a Legacy, TheEncyclopedia In 1985 and 1986 a series of events took place page 4 of the by-line). After a visitation to the site, Dr. William Coplin, the first Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, said that Byberry: "is splendidly located, well suited to farming and possesses a surface contour adapted to the erection of buildings for the reception of the insane at present crowded into the insufficient space afforded by antiquated buildings long out of date and no longer capable of alteration to meet modern requirements.". Soon after the national census of state hospitals peaked in the mid-1950s, a series of changes began the era of deinstitutionalization. Follow Backgrounders on Twitter Lowe worked for LVI Environmental Services Wayne D. Sawyer Papers in Civilian Public Service: Personal Papers & Collected Material (DG 056), Swarthmore College Peace Collection./span>. By the 1950s though, its original purpose was almost forgotten and the building was converted into a regular patient dormitory to keep up with the overcrowding that was common to that period. following is an exerpt from a report entitled "the closing of the Philadelphia State Hospital" by Michael J. Orezechowski:For more than a decade, It has always remained in question where the dead were buried. Byberrys Long Goodbye: Urban Explorers Say So Long to the Infamous Mental Hospital; Neighbors Say Good Riddance. Philadelphia Citypaper, March 16-22, 2006. However, this was not directly implementable, as Byberry still had a population of 594 in 1987, and disposition was difficult with the limited resources that the state was willing to provide. One patient escaped on a cold February day. By 1906, Byberry Farms had expanded through $261,000 in city grants, allocated by Philadelphia Mayor John Weaver and the administration of Philadelphia Almshouse. of negligence, and types of patient abuse were intolerable. (Author information current at time of publication.). Work began Home: The Story Part 1: 1906-1937 . On June 14, 2006, a ceremony was held to celebrate the complete demolition of the former Byberry hospital, and the future construction by Westrum Development of "The Arbours at Eagle Pointe" a 332-unit active adult club house community featuring single homes, town, and carriage homes. Dr. Bryce During state control (1938-1990), a much better While some of the newly admitted were offered more active care, many inmates became institutionalized into a unique community experience, with tedium relieved by work crew duties, sitting in day rooms, or wandering around the grounds. Odd Fellows sold the property to a private company in 1894. In 1997, the warehouses were demolished, followed by C-6 and C-12 in 2000, and the laundry building in 2004. Soon, everyone was knocking on Byberrys doors, and they didnt have nearly enough staff to accommodate the influx of patients. past. Welcome to the UHS Benefits Self-Service Center, your online resource for benefit programs at UHS. The commonwealth also renamed the site at this time, from the former "Byberry Hospital for Mental Diseases" to the more familiar "Philadelphia State Hospital". It is available at Barnes and Noble stores, and online at Amazon.com. Byberry, shown here in 1927, opened as a city institution in Northeast Philadelphia to relieve overcrowding at Blockley, a huge institution in West Philadelphia. Is the park like Franklin Playground in Kensington, where it was known, until their removal, that bodies from the After this look at Byberry mental hospital, step inside some more of the most disturbing mental asylums of decades past. Publisher: The History Press. 1944. Abatement and demolition started with "C" buildings, followed by the "W" buildings, and ended with the "N" buildings. With new state funds, a comprehensive new building plan was instated to alleviate the overcrowding of the site, as well as hire qualified and empathetic staff. entity that can never truly be erased from memory. Before the hospital's public opening in 1907, the first officially accepted patient, William McClain, was admitted for alcoholism. The attendant pulled the ends together, and began to twist. burial ground for the patients, although it was always commonplace at a mental hospital to have a cemetery for the patients. The staff finally discovered her body after other residents were found carrying around her teeth. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "WWII Pacifists Exposed Mental Ward Horrors", Abandoned Photography, Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry), Philadelphia State Hospital - Asylum Projects, Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Philadelphia_State_Hospital_at_Byberry&oldid=1092320591, Demolished buildings and structures in Pennsylvania, Articles needing additional references from January 2011, All articles needing additional references, Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2007, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Philadelphia State Hospital, Byberry State Hospital, Byberry City Farms, Philadelphia Hospital for Mental Diseases, This page was last edited on 9 June 2022, at 15:32. Unlike most of those hospitals, Byberry was opened as a city institution in Northeast Philadelphia to relieve overcrowding at Blockley, a huge institution in West Philadelphia that held the indigent insane in what one observer called an ancient monasterial structure as well as many varieties of the poor and homeless. Philadelphia State Mental Hospital at Byberry originally ran on the principle that mental illness could be cured if the individual was treated in a hospital away from society. Port Reading Coal Docks and Tunnel (Woodbridge) 25: 36p. questions. The The institution began as a small work farm for the mentally ill. However, the boarded windows just made it easier for trespassers to conceal themselves. paperback. Since that time the complex has been fully refurbished, with most of the Edwardian frills of its original architecture removed. Young men were recruited into the military, and many former commercial and industrial jobs were placed in the hands of women and the elderly. The residents of Somerton were now pressuring the City of Philadelphia to end the "Byberry Problem" once and for all. The Ridges, also known as the Athens Lunatic Asylum, was thought up shortly after The Civil War. nation's best example of a free, world-leading society's inability to embrace it's own element of the unknown and undesirable. Published by History Press, it features 75 images In 1950, The Active Therapy Building was completed and opened for clinical use. As it happens, this medical dogma coincides with the early 20th century perception that Consumption could be treated with "fresh air" and exercise. This was going to require some research Please try sending a message directly to the creator of the location. We noticed two others and began getting very curious. Then he gave the towel a slow turn to let the patient know what was in store for him. Several investigations into the conditions at the hospital at various points revealed that raw sewage lined the hallways, patients slept in the halls, and the staff mistreated and exploited patients. became a less and less desirable final resting place for many of the area's residents. You can search online to know what series you need to locate. There was no superintendent of Byberry City Farms prior to 1913. Luckily, Jennings mother worked in state mental health oversight, and soon a committee was investigating Byberry that uncovered abuse and a culture of covering up that abuse. Prosthetic leg house on Zion Mountain (Hillsborough) 18: 23p. were informed that the hospital was to be closed permanently by December 7, 1989. When the government collects, locks away, and systematically tortures tens of thousands of mental patients through excruciating The results? They came from a background of conscientious objectors, who's religious or personal beliefs made it impossible for them to engage in the war. Westrum moved quickly. As Philadelphia Hospital for Mental Diseases: 1907-1938, List of Superintendents of Philadelphia State Hospital, The Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry: A History of Misery and Medicine, The Byberry I-W unit story: Philadelphia State Hospital, Philadelphia State Hospital in house magazine: April 1950, WWII Pacifists Exposed Mental Ward Horrors, See Philadelphia State Hospital at HistoricAerials.com, The Philadelphia Almshouse 1854-1908- contains section on Byberry, Philadelphia State Hospital records available at the Pennsylvania State Archives, http://www.opacity.us/site10_philadelphia_state_hospital_byberry.htm, https://asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=Philadelphia_State_Hospital&oldid=43090, Southampton Road and Roosevelt Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19114, George W. Pepper Jr. (N6 & N7 Senile Wards; N3 Active Therapy), Howell Lewis Shay (N9 Maxium Security Male), Stopper & Lichty (N8 Maxium Security Female), Nolen & Swinburne (Furey Ellis Hall/Auditorium), Philadelphia Hospital for Mental Diseases, An Expose done on the hospital by The Oakland Tribune in the Sunday, November 10, 1968 Edition. Byberry was first constructed in 1906 and opened its doors to its first patient in 1907. industrial buildings) was the northeastern extremity of the first tract purchased by the city in 1903, the Keigler tract (see "Byberry", to many Philadelphians and others throughout the United States, to those who know it- is a place, or perhaps an The most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region. Filmed in 1994. Therefore it is almost certain that records of deaths and burials In stark contrast to the underuse of painkillers, other medications were overused in ways that were just as dangerous. After the looters had removed everything of value, vandals trespassed on the grounds, smashed windows, and started fires. we met up with Radical Ed, one of the first Byberrians, and Goddog, who could find his way into and out of anywhere in the Berry. One patient had reported that one of his teeth was pulled without "Novocaine". An officer of an environmental services company inspecting a property for demolition yesterday on the grounds of the old Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry) in the Far Northeast fell to his death after a stairway gave way, police said. Philidelphia State Hospital was amongst the worst. ofGreaterPhiladelphia. These certainly werent the first signs that something very wrong was happening at Byberry. Published by History Press, it features 75 images from the State . As S1 was opening, work began on the N6 and N7 buildings which were large dormitories that housed patients who suffered with senility. Finally, see what life was like for the famous actress who was involuntarily institutionalized. 1944. Digital version also available. NOW AVAILABLE! On top of the mentally unstable, Byberry also housed many criminals sent there to undergo psychiatric testing in lieu of prison. The It did not take long for people to rediscover Byberry after it closed. Officially known as the Philadelphia State Hospital, Byberry Mental Health Hospital's main legacy is its abuse. Soon, facility administrators were letting people work there even if they werent especially qualified if you needed a job, you had one. According to Warren Sawyer, a conscientious objector and staff member, the man went to another patient and jabbed him in the side of the neck on top of his shoulder and drove the spoon down about one inch deep, just missing the jugular vein.. The Vare Machine's construction contracts were already One female patient was raped, killed, and discarded on the property by a fellow patient in 1987. The Furey Ellis Hall improved public relations, being equipped with modern film projectors and accommodations for up to 400 patients. Eventually, also as asylums of those days tended to do, the Byberry complex grew into a multi-building campus . In June 1990, Byberry Insane Asylum released its last two patients, closing its doors forever. The story is a wild ride, and I hope it helps to shed light on Philly's If this location was only posted a few days ago, give the creator time to work on it. I left the hospital on March 16th, 1983. Even after byberry is gone, she's still revealing disturbing, long-buried secrets about her Byberry Mental Hospital Byberry Mental Hospital Originally opened in Philadelphia in 1907, Byberry Mental hospital was built to be a self-sufficient farm for mentally ill patients. The ceremony consisted of knocking over the overgrown Philadelphia State Hospital sign, a symbol of the sites former activity. The 36 black-and-white photos documented issues including dozens of naked men huddling together and human excrement lining facility hallways. Shortly after the purchase of the land, six inmates from the overcrowded Blockley Almshouse in the city were chosen to work at the agricultural facility. Although it relieved overcrowding from the other mental facilities in the area, it grew so fast that it couldnt entice enough staff to work there. The violent ward at Byberry mental hospital. One of these patients had been missing for close to five months. It started as any other old-time asylum, a working farm modeled to provide patients with independence and a place to heal. And as a result, Byberry's In 1955, at the time of his death, a new auditorium was constructed in honor of Furey Ellis, who was partially responsible for Byberry's turn around. Though originally supposed to close the following year, patient issues delayed the process. 49, was brought to Byberry in August of 1942 to fill in. This was the long overdue ending and renovation of the familiar local "eyesore" that Byberry had become. Perhaps some that were employed there even fit the bill for admission. Byberry Mental Hospital was one of the cruelest psychiatric institutes in history For over 80 years, the institute got away with abusing, restraining, neglecting, and killing its patients After its collapsed, the inhumane setting spurred nationwide debate about the inhumanity of mental institutions across the country The hospital's population grew rapidly, quickly exceeding its capacity; the peak patient population was over 7,000 in 1960. The following is a two part forty minute video about the closing of Philadelphia State Hospital. Byberry's sordid history finally came to a close in 2006. For the following decade of demolition, the commonwealth decided to leave a number of the more precarious buildings standing, and hired additional security to watch the grounds from potential vandals. During its tenure as a psychiatric hospital it was known by several names- Philadelphia State Hospital, Byberry State Hospital, Byberry City Farms, and the Philadelphia Hospital for Mental Diseases. on Glenwood in 1939 and was completed by 1944 for returning servicemen. Author Albert Deutsch wrote in a 1948 book after a tour of the facility: As I passed through some of Byberrys wards, I was reminded of the pictures of the Nazi concentration camps. In 1948, ground was broken for a new building called N-3, the Active Therapy Building, which was the first steps towards aggressively treating acute patients. When operational, it was located on a large sprawling campus within the Somerton neighborhood of northeast Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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