The History of the L.A. County Poor Farm (AKA "Downey Insane Asylum")
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- Опубликовано: 29 авг 2022
- Most people in Southeast L.A. have heard of the "abandoned insane asylum" in Downey, but the true history and focus of this facility is actually more interesting than what the urban legends say. Learn about the history of what was originally called the L.A. County Poor Farm and how it transformed and changed names throughout its 134 year history.
#californiography #californiahistory #downeyhistory #socalhistory #rancholosamigos
References:
“Ranch of the Friends: The Extraordinary Evolution of the L.A. County Poor Farm” by Hadley Meares, KCET. March 30, 2015.
“The Ghostly Remnants of the Old LA County Poor Farm” by Janey Ellis, atomicredhead.com February 25, 2020.
“Take a Look Inside Downey’s Creepy Abandoned Asylum” by Thomas Harlander, Los Angeles Magazine. September 16, 2015.
“Decades-Old Body Parts Found in Abandoned Downey Hospital; No Foul Play, Officials Say” by J. Michael Kennedy, The L.A. Times. October 5, 2006.
Music: “Inborn” by Piotr Hummel 
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Worked on a construction crew that was doing a remodel in the mid 70's on the campus. No patients around. Had to remove asbestos ceiling tiles and then pound the adhesive off the concrete ceilings. Nobody knew about mesothelioma back then I guess, had no protection. I'm OK so far. Just turned 68.
Woah, that's the first I've heard about asbestos ceiling tiles, that explains why they may have abandoned the buildings. Glad to know that you're okay so far and I hope you continue to be okay!
N-95 masks are used by construction workers and after the pandemic some are being idiots and refusing to wear them,,,,
Downey resident here
Warren 05
This place is a trip man!
Great video brother
Thank you bro! Shoutout to Warren HS!
A friend of mine had a motorcycle accident in the 80’s(before helmet law) I saw him at County USC and was basically in a vegistative state. Shocked to see him like that. He was sent to Rancho for rehab. In 9 months he was almost totally himself!! They did amazing work there!!! Thank you for sharing the vid👍🏼
Glad your friend recovered from that accident! My dad was at Rancho for rehab too after he had a leg amputated due to complications from diabetes; the staff was incredible there. Thanks for watching and commenting, appreciate you!
I'm a nurse, and that is amazing gives hope
@@dianat228 thank you for watching and for being a nurse, we need more people like you!
I grew up in Downey, CA in the 1960's and toured this hospital many times. What we really need now is this to be re opened and serve the poor.
That would be great, but it seems they have plans to build some other County facilities; probably more office space.
Would should bring back the insane asylums for people with severe mental problems. Ethical ones, of course. It would take many people that can't take care of themselves off the streets.
@@sal2975 there are facilities that take patients with extreme cases like that, but they’re often at capacity and can’t take on more patients. We definitely need to increase spending on those type of facilities.
Excellent video, thanks for posting this. Do you have a documentary about Los Padrinos juvenile hall in Downey ?
Thank you very much for the kind comment! I don't have a video on Los Padrinos, but my friends over at Beyond the Facade Podcast did an episode where they talked about a few juvenile Halls in L.A. and they covered Los Padrinos. If you're interested, you can check it out here ruclips.net/video/00CgJHHAIR0/видео.html
They start talking about it around the 7:40 min mark, but the whole episode is fascinating.
@@californiography Thank you
@@ignacior.8895 you’re welcome!
Great video love all the history I’ve explored here a few times the last time we did the cops showed up we got it in our video.
Thank you! I heard they already tore it down? I haven’t been by to confirm
I remember the first time I passed by there in 2008. At first, I thought it was an old abandoned high school.
It definitely had that look, especially with the auditorium and chapel. I used to think it was part of the catholic school next door
My mom worked there in the 60’s. She said she took me frequently to visit with the polio patients in the iron lungs. I was too young to remember. Later I attended Pius X HS next door. For track and cross country we would run around and through the campus. Because of my mom’s stories I always had a positive connection to the hospital and buildings. And I bristle when I hear people tell their urban folk tales about the facility. Thanks for setting the record straight on our local history.
Thank you for sharing your memories of the campus! I use to hear all those urban legends growing up in Huntington Park and had to dig into the actual history of the facility. I find that the real history is actually more fascinating than any of the urban legends.
Please do more videos on California history
Definitely will!
In the late 80s I worked on a project running fiber optics from the steam plant at the south side which was still in use at the time to several buildings at the north campus. There was a steam tunnel that ran along Erickson had big vaults on either side of the bridge across Imperial then back into steam tunnels all around the campus. I'm gonna bet there isn't a lot of those steam tunnels left at this point looking at all the new construction.
Woah, never knew about the steam tunnel, that would’ve been cool to see.
Thanks for the video. I was just sick and tired of all the videos claiming that this was an abandoned insane asylum. Only the locals know the true history of the this place. It would have made a great historical site had they taken better care of the facility. It’s all flattened right now with most of the rubble taken away to make room for new developments. I think it was for the best since the place was infested with feral animals that may carry fleas and diseases.
Thank you so much for watching! I grew up hearing the same stories about the insane asylum and always wanted to get to the real history. When it was abandoned, it lent itself to having all those urban legends created it about it. Which is a shame, because the Poor Farm was a revolutionary idea and the facility should've definitely been better preserved to tell the actual history. I know that there was a cemetery at the southwest corner of the property, just off Somerset and Garfield and to my knowledge, there are still remains there. I wonder what they're going to do with that part of the property.
My mother and I drive pass by that place and the whole place was gone for good since it got burn down 2 times but there is one building that is still standing
I haven’t driven past in a while, sad to know most of it’s gone, but glad to know some of still remains
my uncle worked at the nearby warehouse. whenever we passed by to drop off my uncle at work we would see it.
What did you think about the place? What did you think happened there or did anyone ever tell you stories about it?
Where in Downey is this? I lived in South Gate as a child by Imperial and Garfield. I remember the Rancho Los Amigos hospital or complex or whatever. This was in the later 50s and early 60s.
The address is 13098 Dahlia Ave. It's directly south of Rancho Los Amigos Hospital across Imperial Hwy, behind the Downey courthouse.
It’s by the court house but it’s been demolished
@@unoriginaledits82 really?! I haven’t driven by since I filmed back in August.
@@californiography yeah, I think maybe the water tower might be left, but it’s gone, they got sick of kids setting the place on fire, me and my homies hanged out at that place for years, it was such a bummer when they demolished it, there’s a lot of history there, I went there so much I mapped out the guards patrols and shit, I can send it to you if interested
@@californiography I also got a lot of pictures of the place
Hahaha I use to live in Downey , love it
So many stories
Now is way to my stores and not so nice .
it's definitely changed a lot! You're right, there's way more stores that when I was growing up.
THIS FUCKING PLACE IS HAUNTED ASF 👻
I definitely believe that, really creepy during the day; I can’t imagine how creepy it is at night
If only society took care of the needy now like they did back then. 😞
I’ve wondered if a program like they had there would work now.
Maybe, but now with a lot of homeless on drugs, no way to control that situation
I can't hear you with max volume.
I’m sorry about that, not sure what’s going on.
Its destroyed now they demolished it i been visiting since 2017:/ n the last time i went in jan of this year it was only one or two buildings still standing n the rest is just open field n debris with hella coyotes everywhere
I miss it:/
Dang, sad that they finally tore it down. I remember when you could still drive through the streets that ran through the campus.
your username 🤣
this institution was started in a time when our government cared and was committed to making society better!
That is very true
I like abandoned places
What are some of your favorites?
Linda vista hospital
I used to park our ambulance outside of it all the time whenever we got posted in Boyle Heights. It was always fascinating to me. I read somewhere they turned it into senior housing?
@@californiography Yes
CA. should rebuild the place and offer the homeless a chance to get off the streets.
I’ve often wondered if such a program/facility would work today. I’m not sure of the answer.
On google maps, this place appears to be very inhabited.
There’s a North Campus and a South Campus. The South one is what used to be the Poor Farm; it’s been fenced off for years. The North Campus is the current day Rancho Los Amigos Hospital
Sadly destruction has started
Dang, that’s sad to hear. I haven’t been by since I filmed there a few weeks back. I wish they were preserving more than just 4 buildings.
Crazy how all buildings are gone there are only like 4 now and the funeral home is just there rotting out
@@andrew1628 yeah honestly it’s so sad to see it go
@@aztekcayt7945 definitely, was such a landmark for so long.
@@andrew1628 yeah they demolished all that shit fast, I wonder how many cats, skunks and raccoons got killed in the process, there are also underground tunnels that connected a few buildings hopefully they hid there
I want to film here in hate the ever way I can get in? With out being spotted lol please help
Sorry, I've never tried getting in, so I wouldn't even know where to start. When I filmed the guards and sheriffs were definitely keeping an eye on me.
Casa de los Wackos!
Never heard it called that til now!
This is exactly what we need today..
The homeless need this to come back to full operation
I’ve often wondered how successful a facility like this would be today
There were others as such and provided food for local communities (some with profits that paid back their cost)...Goov'nor Ronnie Ray-Gun closed them down for some nefarious reason and put those people on the street with no care or provisions. The precursor of today's homelessness, no mental health care.
I always wondered why they deinstitutionalized so many people without having the proper resources availble for them; it's never made sense to me.
The 'nefarious' reason was the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act that forced the state to release mentally ill patients and led to the subsequent closure of mental hospitals in California. This act was passed after the ACLU sued the state in 1967. This happened after the book "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" came out in the early 60's. Reagon signed the law after the movie came out.
The ACLU is also behind the current mess by hobbling governments from separating miscreants, drug addicts and the mentally impaired from society.