It's incredible to see Danvers in operating condition, and to know that less than ten years after this clip aired the asylum would be a rambling wreck, more or less. It's even more jarring to consider that, today, it basically no longer exists - apart from an ode to its facade. Ditto for my hometown's Kirkbride, the old Worcester State Hospital. All that's left of the original asylum there is Hooper Hall. Ugh!
The old mental hospitals were small cities within themselves. Patients worked on the farms, in the kitchens, in the green houses, everywhere and they took great pride in what they did. All in all, a happy place for many to call home.
"Mary tell me again what happened 22 years ago on Christmas night, in Lowell.." "Nothing happened.." "But Mary something did happen.. That's why we have these sessions to help you remember.."
I live in Massachusetts what they did when they closed it down they put the patients on a bus and dropped them off in down town Lynn. All of them lived in the streets. Very sad what they did
Gram gram L I actually worked at supported apartment complex where the gentleman at 9:15 (Bill) lived after the hospital closed. And I worked at a group home in Peabody with at least 5 other former danvers patients in the late 90s early 2000s.
I knew a married couple that met at Danvers State Hospital. The husband got better, the wife didn't really. Their relationship was rough. I was ten years old when this place closed. The amount of people who wandered the streets of Lynn who got kicked out of Danvers State was shockingly high. There was a lady on Union Street in Lynn named Mary who would wear a winter jacket in the summer and not wear it in the winter. There was one guy who for some reason was called "Chickey" who rode a tricycle and lived in an abandoned lot behind the hells angel club house who talked to himself. These four people all got the boot from Danvers State when it closed. Just sad. Edit: Didn't know notice it was MikeDijital's RUclips. I used to follow your urban adventuring back on your personal website/forum back in the early 2000's.
They should have put these doctors in jail for life for what they did terrible things shock treatment. I hope they caught these doctors that should have gone to jail for life .
When there are cameras around, of course all the employees are going to be nice and calm. Just imagine when the cameras are off and there isn’t any news crews there.
My aunt who was schizo-affective was committed to Danvers in the early 1980s. The hospital was basically a warehouse to keep the so-called undesirables away from their community. The hospital didn't help my aunt at all. It did more harm than good to her.
My aunt passed away in '04. She never was homeless though. Ultimately she got help at a general hospital and did well the last years of her life. She spent 1 1/2 years in Danvers and the place didn't help her. It did give her shelter. My aunt could've been homeless though. The state had these big plans of putting former state hospital patients in outpatient programs. As you may know they messed up bigtime. There were no programs of any sort. Which has to this day has left countless people homeless. The situation just keeps getting worse.
It's sad we had those groups of people pushing for Danvers and other hospitals to close mainly because they saw it as a waste of tax payer money. Fast forward to 2014 when we have very few of these hospitals available and a large population of people with mental illness now locked away in jails or on the streets not receiving any sort of treatment. Those out on the streets with the general population not receiving treatment will usually commit crimes and end up in jail.
If the politicians in Massachusetts legalized marijuana and prostitution they could had taken money from that and kept Danvers open with out raising taxes.
+Brian smith The problem with danvers, is the kirkbride had been slowly abandoned since the 50's and the cost to fix everything to state standands would have been astonomical
+Brian smith Being wise about it,they could have spent the money renovating it, then using it as a venue for various events throughout the year, maybe even as a museum as a piece of national heritage. But no, lets suckle on the corporate ballbag for a few coins and let a masterpiece fade.
+infinitesimotel Do you realize what it would take to renovate A place that huge. Plumbing, electrical, insulation, sheetrock, heating system, windows, the roof and that's just some of it. A place that big would be millions. It is very unique looking place and should be saved.
+backwoodsbully Pretty much. But I read a post of an interview with one of the engineers that was working there, and he said that they were made to stop working on it and to shut off the water, which he knew would wreck the pipes. They broke and the water damage was the final nail in the coffin for Danvers. If it had been converted and maintained since the beginning it would have been managable and much more cost effective, especially if it was open for public use. But from the content of the text it was pretty clear to me 'they' wanted it to go down, presumably a corporation had stuffed money into the local council pockets to let it die so they can purchase the land for cheap and shack up a housing complex; which they did. It would have been well worth preserving it to standard.
The Kirkbride building looked so much better back them. They should have kept the Bonner medical building open and save the Kirkbride from demolition. Today it's overpriced apartments and very little was saved.
Atleast the cemeterys are still on the property and are taken care of it is a shame tho that they didn't keep the asylum as is it was on the list of historic places just shows you that list means nothing
That sound like the music from The Shining playing in the background, and the movie Session 9 was made in that Institution. It's awful that it was closed down and that the residents didn't have a place to go, but that place wasn't helping anybody just harming them. Either way the people that live there suffered.😟
Guy at the beginning was right, they closed all these facilities, now all these poor mentally ill people are running around homeless, we are all paying the price. I know they weren’t perfect but just look at what’s happened to our major cities.
It started long before that but the end of the 90s going into the 2K's, when mobile phones became a lifestyle obligation, for one, is when world life plummeted into spammo dickhead dingdong silly nonsense freefall.
It's incredible to see Danvers in operating condition, and to know that less than ten years after this clip aired the asylum would be a rambling wreck, more or less. It's even more jarring to consider that, today, it basically no longer exists - apart from an ode to its facade. Ditto for my hometown's Kirkbride, the old Worcester State Hospital. All that's left of the original asylum there is Hooper Hall. Ugh!
Marie Balter was an amazing woman and a true heroine...she truly overcame adversity.
As a former ma state hospital employee, it’s great to see these old clips. Closing the hospitals was terrible..
Awesome to see some footage where it was not in neglect.
The old mental hospitals were small cities within themselves. Patients worked on the farms, in the kitchens, in the green houses, everywhere and they took great pride in what they did. All in all, a happy place for many to call home.
"Mary tell me again what happened 22 years ago on Christmas night, in Lowell.." "Nothing happened.." "But Mary something did happen.. That's why we have these sessions to help you remember.."
“Do it Gordon !”
I live in Massachusetts what they did when they closed it down they put the patients on a bus and dropped them off in down town Lynn. All of them lived in the streets. Very sad what they did
Gram gram L I actually worked at supported apartment complex where the gentleman at 9:15 (Bill) lived after the hospital closed. And I worked at a group home in Peabody with at least 5 other former danvers patients in the late 90s early 2000s.
@@Shoot.Rana.X do you know what happened to Bill? He seems like a very likable guy
I knew a married couple that met at Danvers State Hospital. The husband got better, the wife didn't really. Their relationship was rough.
I was ten years old when this place closed. The amount of people who wandered the streets of Lynn who got kicked out of Danvers State was shockingly high. There was a lady on Union Street in Lynn named Mary who would wear a winter jacket in the summer and not wear it in the winter. There was one guy who for some reason was called "Chickey" who rode a tricycle and lived in an abandoned lot behind the hells angel club house who talked to himself. These four people all got the boot from Danvers State when it closed. Just sad.
Edit: Didn't know notice it was MikeDijital's RUclips. I used to follow your urban adventuring back on your personal website/forum back in the early 2000's.
Oddly enough I met my wife in the "Abandoned " Metropolitan State Hospital in waltham..... I always have to preface it with abandoned lol
They should have put these doctors in jail for life for what they did terrible things shock treatment. I hope they caught these doctors that should have gone to jail for life .
When there are cameras around, of course all the employees are going to be nice and calm. Just imagine when the cameras are off and there isn’t any news crews there.
My aunt who was schizo-affective was committed to Danvers in the early 1980s. The hospital was basically a warehouse to keep the so-called undesirables away from their community. The hospital didn't help my aunt at all. It did more harm than good to her.
Now she'd be homeless. How is that any better ?
My aunt passed away in '04. She never was homeless though. Ultimately she got help at a general hospital and did well the last years of her life. She spent 1 1/2 years in Danvers and the place didn't help her. It did give her shelter. My aunt could've been homeless though. The state had these big plans of putting former state hospital patients in outpatient programs. As you may know they messed up bigtime. There were no programs of any sort. Which has to this day has left countless people homeless. The situation just keeps getting
worse.
Hello.... Gordon.
It's sad we had those groups of people pushing for Danvers and other hospitals to close mainly because they saw it as a waste of tax payer money. Fast forward to 2014 when we have very few of these hospitals available and a large population of people with mental illness now locked away in jails or on the streets not receiving any sort of treatment. Those out on the streets with the general population not receiving treatment will usually commit crimes and end up in jail.
Michael Steele exactly
How ironic that what was a waste of taxpayers money ended up making a contractor wealthy when had the condos built there.
You can Thank ol Ronny Reagan for that.
I worked there as they were closing. There were some patients who'd been there for 40 years.
I can't imagine the things you have seen.
8:39 she was ahead of the game. They laughed at her then, now look who’s laughing.
My grandmother was murdered there by another patient.
Carol Brothers that's awful. My condolences. That was a terrible place. Creepy too. Session 9.
Im so sorry to hear that.
Im so sorry for your loss
That's very bizarre. I'm very sorry for your loss.
RIP Mary Richardson of Chronicle.
Michael Steele your 100 % right
This documentary is from 1992? I was born that year. Fuck I feel old. 😢
If the politicians in Massachusetts legalized marijuana and prostitution they could had taken money from that and kept Danvers open with out raising taxes.
+Brian smith The problem with danvers, is the kirkbride had been slowly abandoned since the 50's and the cost to fix everything to state standands would have been astonomical
+Brian smith Being wise about it,they could have spent the money renovating it, then using it as a venue for various events throughout the year, maybe even as a museum as a piece of national heritage. But no, lets suckle on the corporate ballbag for a few coins and let a masterpiece fade.
+infinitesimotel Do you realize what it would take to renovate A place that huge. Plumbing, electrical, insulation, sheetrock, heating system, windows, the roof and that's just some of it. A place that big would be millions. It is very unique looking place and should be saved.
+backwoodsbully
Pretty much. But I read a post of an interview with one of the engineers that was working there, and he said that they were made to stop working on it and to shut off the water, which he knew would wreck the pipes. They broke and the water damage was the final nail in the coffin for Danvers. If it had been converted and maintained since the beginning it would have been managable and much more cost effective, especially if it was open for public use. But from the content of the text it was pretty clear to me 'they' wanted it to go down, presumably a corporation had stuffed money into the local council pockets to let it die so they can purchase the land for cheap and shack up a housing complex; which they did. It would have been well worth preserving it to standard.
Session 9
The Kirkbride building looked so much better back them. They should have kept the Bonner medical building open and save the Kirkbride from demolition. Today it's overpriced apartments and very little was saved.
Atleast the cemeterys are still on the property and are taken care of it is a shame tho that they didn't keep the asylum as is it was on the list of historic places just shows you that list means nothing
Gentrification.
That sound like the music from The Shining playing in the background, and the movie Session 9 was made in that Institution. It's awful that it was closed down and that the residents didn't have a place to go, but that place wasn't helping anybody just harming them. Either way the people that live there suffered.😟
Suzanne Vega - Cracking. Beautiful song. And sad. Appropriate
Whats the name of the song in the background?
Suzanne Vega - Cracking
Guy at the beginning was right, they closed all these facilities, now all these poor mentally ill people are running around homeless, we are all paying the price. I know they weren’t perfect but just look at what’s happened to our major cities.
All the weirdness in the world today started in the 90's hindsight is always 20/20 ..
It started long before that but the end of the 90s going into the 2K's, when mobile phones became a lifestyle obligation, for one, is when world life plummeted into spammo dickhead dingdong silly nonsense freefall.
2:09 the most awkward news report I've ever seen
We used to joke " wouldn't it be funny if the lady walking behind her just wacked the reporter right in the back of the head "
@@MikeDijital i was half expecting her to just start screaming at the reporter
@@MikeDijital I was thinking the same exact thing! I was like wait for it… lol
It's haunted