Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry
Encyclopedia
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
located in the Byberry neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia
Northeast Philadelphia
Northeast Philadelphia, nicknamed Northeast Philly, the Northeast and the Great Northeast, is a section of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to the 2000 Census, the Northeast has a sizable percentage of the city's 1.547 million people — a population of between 300,000 and 450,000,...
in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. The name of the institution was changed several times during its history being variously named Philadelphia State Hospital, Byberry State Hospital, Byberry City Farms, and the Philadelphia Hospital for Mental Diseases. It was home to people ranging from the mentally challenged to the criminally insane.
The primary buildings were constructed between 1910 and the mid-1920s, and the newer buildings were constructed between 1940 and 1953. The facility included over fifty buildings such as male and female dormitories, an infirmary, kitchens, laundry, administration, a chapel and a morgue. The hospital's population grew rapidly, quickly exceeding its capacity; the peak patient population was over 7,000 in 1960.
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.
The hospital has been featured in the paranormal television
Paranormal television
Paranormal television is a genre of popular reality television programming. Its scope comprises purportedly factual investigations of paranormal phenomena, rather than fictional representations found in such shows as The Ghosts of Motley Hall and Ghostbusters, or cartoon/children's series such as...
series Scared!
Scared!
Scared! , formerly titled as Scared on Staten Island!, is an American paranormal public-access television cable TV series that premiered on September 12, 2002 on Staten Island Community Television...
.
History
The institution began as a small work farm for the mentally ill. Soon, plans were made to turn the farm into a cottage plan asylum. Construction began on the institution in 1906. Shortly after that, it was established in 1907 as the Byberry Mental Hospital and originally followed the theory of physician Benjamin RushBenjamin Rush
Benjamin Rush was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a Christian Universalist, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania....
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. Many of the original patients were transferred from Philadelphia General Hospital.
State operation
The hospital was turned over to the state in 1936 and was renamed the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry. Conditions in the hospital during this time were poor, with allegations of patient abuse and inhumane treatment made frequently. The situation came to national attention between 1945 and 1946, when conscientious objectorConscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
Charlie Lord took covert photos of the institution and the conditions inside while serving there as an orderly. The 36 black-and-white photos documented issues including dozens of naked men huddling together and human excrement lining facility hallways. The photos were shown to a number of people, including then-First Lady
First Lady
First Lady or First Gentlemanis the unofficial title used in some countries for the spouse of an elected head of state.It is not normally used to refer to the spouse or partner of a prime minister; the husband or wife of the British Prime Minister is usually informally referred to as prime...
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, who subsequently pledged her support in pursuing national mental health reforms. In May of 1946 Lord's photos were published in an issue of Life
Life (magazine)
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
, creating a national "mass uproar".
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. 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."
During the 1960s the hospital began a continuous downsizing that would end with its closure. During the mid-1980s, the hospital came under scrutiny when it was learned that violent criminals were being kept on the hospital's Forensic Ward (N8-2A). In 1985, the hospital failed a state inspection, and was accused of misleading the inspection team about certain issues, with overcrowding being the top problem.
Reports of patient abuse
Patient abuse
Patient abuse or neglect is any action or failure to act which causes unreasonable suffering, misery or harm to the patient. It includes physically striking or sexually assaulting a patient. It also includes withholding of necessary food, physical care, and medical attention...
were still rampant through the 1980s. One patient had reported that one of his teeth was pulled without Novocaine. Another famous story of patient abuse was that of William Kirsch in 1987, who was shackled to a bed for 14 months. A female patient was murdered by another psychiatric patient, Charles Gable, who then dismembered her body; parts of her body were found in several places upon the property. Gable was never found, but one patient was found playing with the victim's teeth. Another state inspection team was sent to evaluate the hospital in early 1987. 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.
Closing And Abandonment
On December 7, 1987, a press conference was held to announce the closure of the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry.The teams most recently performing investigations described the conditions as "atrocious" and "irreversible." Though originally supposed to close the following year, patient issues delayed the process. Most importantly, two released patients were found dead in the Delaware river in two successive days after their release. The hospital officially closed in June 1990, with the remaining patients and staff having been transferred to Norristown State Hospital
Norristown State Hospital
Norristown State Hospital, originally known as the State Lunatic Hospital at Norristown, is an active psychiatric hospital located outside the city of Philadelphia in Norristown, Pennsylvania...
or local community centers.
Period of Abandonment 1990-2006
It did not take long for people to rediscover Byberry after it closed. The buildings were not demolished at first because of asbestos poisoning concerns. Looters broke in several weeks after the closing and began to steal everything of value, especially copper piping and wiring. After the looters had removed everything of value, vandals trespassed on the grounds, smashed windows, and started fires.Urban Explorers
Urban exploration
Urban exploration is the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of urban areas or industrial facilities. Urban exploration is also commonly referred to as infiltration, although some people consider infiltration to be more closely associated with the exploration of active or...
wandered the halls and the extensive underground network that connected each building though tunnel corridors. By 2000 Byberry saw an explosion of people visiting the abandoned hospital. The internet offered extremely exaggerated stories and legends, as well tips on gaining access to the abandoned buildings while avoiding police and security. By 2003, the Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry site was a complete and utter ruin; graffiti covered every buildings exterior and interior, every window was smashed and boarded with plywood, and anything flammable remaining when the hospital closed was now ashes. The residents of Somerton were now pressuring the City of Philadelphia to end the "Byberry Problem" once and for all.