Justly compared to Nazi concentration camps, Byberry was perhaps the With the rise of transportation the staff buildings were no longer needed and the south unit buildings were demolished by the 1970s. As recently as the late 1980s, 27-year-old resident William Kirsch was in such restraints for more than 14 months and possibly as long as three years. 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. [2][3], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}400709N 745913W / 40.1193N 74.9870W / 40.1193; -74.9870. Since that time the complex has been fully refurbished, with most of the Edwardian frills of its original architecture removed. The 130-acre campus of Byberry State Mental Hospital sprawls across the Somerton section of Northeast Philadelphia like the rotting corpse of a giant. This facility became a hub for inhumane medical practices, including lobotomies, electroshock and the abuse of psychotropic drugs. It stood about three feet high and a little over Civilian Public Service Unit, Camp No. 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. One patient escaped on a cold February day. He died of exposure. became a less and less desirable final resting place for many of the area's residents. Inside The Shocking Origins Of The 'America First' Movement, Researchers Just Confirmed The Exact Date When Vikings Lived In North America 500 Years Before Columbus, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. The bodies were to be moved to the "Glenwood Cemetery" in montgomery county that was to open by 1940. Other allegations included the pulling of teeth without Novocain and a physician so arthritic he couldnt help a choking patientBecause of staff shortages, the workers wrote, showering, shaving and changing patients clothes often was neglected.. This was the long overdue ending and renovation of the familiar local "eyesore" that Byberry had become. were informed that the hospital was to be closed permanently by December 7, 1989. the patient, making indentification practically impossible. The city and general public promoted this notion, of sending some of the local "undesirables" out of site into an agrarian atmosphere. Did they set a cap on the number of patients they were willing to admit? Then, see what life was like inside the mental asylums of Victorian England. I left the hospital on March 16th, 1983. Originally opened by the City of Philadelphia in 1906, it was taken over by the State in 1938 for budgetary concerns. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Department of Welfare, 1946. Byberry Mental Hospital, Philadelphia's House of Horrors (allthatsinteresting.com) 38 points by mardiyah 14 days ago | hide | past | favorite | 17 comments: xrd 14 days ago | next. The land where the west group was built had had only two previous owners, the Carter Soon, plans were made to turn the farm into a cottage plan asylum. The single remaining building at the Byberry campus is current being leased to Self- Help Movement Inc. (SHM), which has been active on the campus since 1975. Most of their materials had been stripped away prior, and they were all shells of former aesthetic glory. The amount It was home to people ranging from the mentally challenged to the criminally insane. 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. Regardless of the public reaction, the absence of alternatives meant Byberry continued to grow. His photos, revealed what it was like inside of the "snake pit", and caused a sensation of negative public opinion. One patient even attempted murder with a sharpened spoon in 1944. My name is Jon Alexander. that gave rise to questions of negligence, patient abuse, and the deaths of several patients. We noticed two others and began getting very curious. Burial Ground", and no disturbance is to come of this area. Looters broke in several weeks after the closing and began to steal everything of value, especially copper piping and wiring. Casey placed a gubernatorial order that the hospital should be closed immediately, with the scheduled date of September 30th 1989. Byberry was first constructed in 1906 and opened its doors to its first patient in 1907. In 1985 and 1986 a series of events took place In his 1948 book, The Shame of the States, Albert Deutsch described the horrid conditions he observed: "As I passed through some of Byberry's wards, I was reminded of the pictures of the Nazi concentration camps. It was largely via these pacifists accounts and photographs that the abusive conditions inside Byberry mental hospital were finally brought to light. Conscientious objectors performing alternative service during World War II witnessed and even surreptitiously photographed scenes of everyday neglect and even brutality that shocked them, though these conditions were well known to city and state officials. To make matters worse, Byberry was housing violent criminals awaiting trial along with the general population. The photos were shown to a number of people, including then-First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who subsequently pledged her support in pursuing national mental health reforms. The moderator rating is a neutral rating of the content quality, photography, and coolness of this location. Having been successfully hidden from public awareness, Byberry's truths Staff members, many of whom were veterans in need of psychiatric care themselves, often took out their frustrations on the patients. Cottage Planned Institutions. page chronological story of one of America's most notorious mental hospitals. In response to this, the City of Philadelphia purchased farmland in the northeast section of the county, in a rural district then known as Byberry. Chicago: self-published, 1934. It exceeded its patient limit quickly, maxing out at over 7,000 in 1960. First he tightened the noose. By June 7th, there was a chain link fence surrounding the tattered ruins of the property. State Hospital records can be found at the Pennsylvania Archives in Harrisburg. In 1950, The Active Therapy Building was completed and opened for clinical use. Published by History Press, it features 75 images from the State . They were pressured from Somerton residents, as well as the city, to end the "Byberry problem". Completely demolished in 2006 by Geppert Brothers and Delta Removal for Westrum Byberry LLP. The foundation pits for the new buildings at byberry were the perfect place to dump tons of unwanted materials from Albert was born in the Kohls' featureless, two story rowhouse at 1227 Callowhill The following year S-2 (twin to the S-1 building), a building for patients engaged in occupational therapy, was completed. There, as a measure of expanding the public welfare, they established a city-funded, inmate run farm, known simply as "Byberry Farms". Finally, see what life was like for the famous actress who was involuntarily institutionalized. The most comprehensive, authoritative reference source ever created for the Philadelphia region. Opened in 1876 with the infamous name "New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum", this hospital was constructed to relieve the immense overpopulation of New Jersey's only other mental health hospital in Treton. By 1906, Byberry Farms had expanded through $261,000 in city grants, allocated by Philadelphia Mayor John Weaver and the administration of Philadelphia Almshouse. Partial Walkthrough of tunnels (catacombs), buildings and grounds. This is in no Many of its sources can be found in the LINKS section. paperback. I entered a building swarming with naked humans herded like cattle and treated with less concern, pervaded by a fetid odor so heavy, so nauseating, that the stench seemed to have almost a physical existence of its own.". That was later increased to $10-15 per month. The primary buildings were constructed between 1907 and the mid-1920s, and the newer buildings were constructed between 1940 and 1953. When work resumed on the west campuses power plant, which unlike the east campus, was built at a distance from the campus it served. The U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania found that Byberry was infringing on Kirschs human rights, and demanded his release from the hospital. Old Byberrians and Urban Explorers . The Mysterious Byberry Tombstone After the last residents left the huge campus, the physical plant of more than fifty buildings continued to decline. On the other hand, Byberrys open-door policy for high-functioning residents made it easy for certain people to escape. Closed in 1990 for pretty much the same reason. At one time there were 32 buildingsall connected via patient and/or service tunnels. and thorough exploration of the buildings themselves. Grimes, John Maurice. The conditions that he discovered made headlines around the country. It was approximately 90 acres In March of 2006, the Westrum Development Corporation purchased the remaining 106-acre Byberry site. next. Two years later, admissions of the insane to Blockley ended, and Byberry provided shelter and custodial care, usually at the most minimal levels and with considerable overcrowding. On December 7, 1987, a press conference was held to announce the closure of the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry. Other issues that added to the alike- often told stories so horrific that the general public simply could not properly conceive them. However, those superintendents appointed to their office by the city of Philadelphia are unknown. At this time the media The campus itself only took a year to complete, and was in active use by 1927. Many of the original patients were transferred from Philadelphia General Hospital, which closed in 1977. One conscientious objector working at the hospital reported that attendants were careful not to be seen when using weapons or fists upon patients, attacks which undoubtedly resulted in life-threatening injuries and death. In 1938, George Wharton Pepper Jr. was hired as the new primary architect of the campus, as the former, Philip Johnson, had died in 1933. Since the place was abandoned in the late eighties probably thousands of people wandered its darkened halls, some . Private facilities, such as those at Friends Hospital and the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital had existed for some time. Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry (PSH) was a psychiatric hospital in northeast Philadelphia, first city and later state-operated. The new tuberculosis building, also known as N10, was opened in 1951. Many of whom sought financial refuge from the increasing tax hikes of the consolidated county of Philadelphia. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania officially sold this piece of the Byberry property to SHM in the spring of 1988. Lowe worked for LVI Environmental Services In 1919, two orderlies at the Byberry mental hospital confessed to strangling a patient until his eyes popped out. is a very small burial ground at the end of Burling avenue that was donated by the Byberry Friends Meeting in 1780 to the The C buildings were the oldest. Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry). This facility was intended to supply food for other public institutions in the city, such as Eastern State Penitentiary and the Philadelphia Almshouse (then known as Old Blockley Almshouse). Thousands spend their days often for weeks at a stretch locked in devices euphemistically called restraints: thick leather handcuffs, great canvas camisoles, muffs, mitts, wristlets, locks and straps and restraining sheets. 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. In the early 1980s the C buildings became mostly vacant, and administration was moved to the W3 building. my fascination with Byberry, this is the book for you. In 1936, a Philadelphia Record photographer Mac Parker, disguising himself as an attendant, snuck in his camera onto the hospital grounds and took some very revealing photos of life inside Byberry. By the summer of 1987, five of the Philadelphia State Hospital's top officials were promptly fired after the Byberry facility once again failed the state inspection. page 4 of the by-line). By the late 1990s the conditions at the former campus had shifted significantly, many of the buildings fell into terminal disrepair. Finally, a comprehensive, detailed history of Byberry. website is a collection of information based on personal interviews, archival research, material found inside the buildings, As early as 1946, Life magazine published shocking photos taken by Charles Lord depicting the atrocious conditions within. Unbundling of State Hospital Services in the Community: The Philadelphia State Hospital Story. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, 24/5, May 1997, 391-98. The Cottage Plan (also known as the Colony Plan in England) is a style of asylum planning that gained popularity at the very end of the 19th century and continued to be very popular well into the 20th century. 1944. The situation came to national attention between 1945 and 1946, when conscientious objector Charlie Lord took covert photos of the institution and the conditions inside while serving there as an orderly. Patients lived in squalor, struggling to get a quality meal, receive a bath, or have their clothing washed. They were It is also available for Kindle. closet of skeletons. Despite reports from Byberry circulating and sparking horror nationwide for decades, it remained in operation until almost 1990. and published by Philadelphia citypaper.net Shortly after that, it was established in 1907 as the Byberry Mental Hospital and originally followed the theory of physician Benjamin Rush that mental illness was a disease and could be cured with proper treatment, but that the mentally diseased should be kept away from normal people until they were actually cured. CPS wives also received that wage as they were not subject to Selective Service regulations. Heavy criticism of the hospital's condition led to the construction of an additional medical infirmary, exclusively for female patients, as the last of the original buildings on west campus, being completed in 1935. This has remained a huge mystery about byberry. I carpooled down to Philly with Drew, Ember, and a guy called Gonzo. However, a large portion of those patients discharged had no disposition at release. They are: Interac CMHMR (BSU# 6A), Northwestern Human Services (BSU# 6B), WES Health Center (BSU #6C), PATH CMHMR(BSU# 7B), Community Council MHMR (BSU# 4), Northwest CMHMR (BSU# 7A), COHMAR (BSU#), John F. Kennedy CMHMR (BSU#1), Hall-Mercer CMHMR (BSU# 2A), CATCH CMHMR (BSU# 2B), Consortium CMHMR (BSU# 3), WES Health Center (BSU# 5A), and Northwestern Human Services (BSU# 7C). In 1938, the city launched a campaign, after years of complaints from The land Byberry was built on was previously used as a farm by Holmesburg Prison, and like Holmesburg, Byberry also allowed extensive, and largely unregulated medical testing on patients, in its case by Philadelphia pharmaceutical company Smith, Kline & French. on their site. were comprehended by only few. The last building closed at Philadelphia State was N-8, which housed the last patients, who were released by June of 1990. From the day it opened, Byberry was on course for disaster. The dwindling of institutionalization had little impact on the patient population of Byberry. In contrast, Friends Hospital, a private institution, held 155 patients, less than its rated capacity of 190, and private sanitoria such as Fairmount Farm had even fewer (twenty-two residents, with a rated capacity of forty-four). In 1946, the new kitchen/dietary building, N-5, was opened for clinical use. During the 1960s, the hospital began a continuous downsizing that would end with its closure.