The hospital first opened its doors in 1904 in Norwich, Connecticut. It was built in an idyllic location chosen for its therapeutic properties overlooking the River Thames.
The Norwich Insane Asylum was built isolated from civilization, which worked to its benefit as it began to grow during its early years sprouting new buildings that accompanied the original construction (see aerial view of the hospital here). These new construction projects included patient wards, staff cottages, laboratories and workshops. All of the structures were interconnected by a large network of underground utility tunnels. These tunnels transported electricity, hot water, and patients to various areas on the grounds. The hospital remained self-sufficient, almost like a small town, with its own power plant, pump house, working farm, kitchen, theater and church.
Over 3,000 patients and 1,000 employees were residents on the asylum grounds in the 1950’s.
Slowly patients began to leave Norwich State Hospital due to deinstitutionalization and it permanently closed its doors in 1996. Since then time has basically stood still on the property with a few exceptions. Currently there is talk about converting the grounds into a theme park, but nothing has been set in stone.
After a long tedious drive we leave the car in a commuter parking lot close to the buildings. Ever the vigilant group of explorers we notice a State Trooper making his rounds and dive into the forest for cover. Luckily we outsmarted the police yet again and after regrouping walk along the Thames River for a few hundred feet. We finally see the abandoned pump house looming in the distance and decide to make this our entryway into the campus.
This site has a reputation for being well guarded, well patrolled, and does not take kindly to trespassers. I am always on edge when exploring across the Atlantic and the numerous “State Property – No Trespassing” signs that litter the grounds did not bode well for my paranoia. Instead of exposing ourselves above ground to security and prying eyes, we decided to take the underground route through the utility tunnels.
Using the tunnels we explored many buildings without ever being forced to go outside. This method of travel was soon confirmed to be the safest. On our first attempt to venture outside we were only a few feet away from a security officer in a black uniform. Fortunately he didn’t look our way and we quickly receded back into the tunnel network. For a while we hid in the abandoned theater so we could look around the campus without being seen.
This encounter with security dampened our spirits and made our visit a whole lot shorter than we would have liked. We made our grande exit through the empty chapel, this allowed us to avoid walking back through the forest. As we were walking back to the commuter lot to pickup our car we noticed the State Trooper had been watching us as we suspiciously walked down the road. I wonder where we went to and were coming back from?!
Archive document introducing a new therapy (click to enlarge):
Special thanks to Dr. Bob for sharing the old postcards.
ive been reading about this place for some time now and have been planning to photograph it for months. are they knocking this place down? if so does anyone know when and can give me detailed directions on where to park and how to get in? thx! ;]
Supposedly, Friday Night, a security person at NSH took my neice and her boyfriend for a tour of the hospital. They needed to supply resperators. Havent spoken to her, to find out whats what, more to come....
Escape's at Norwich were probably the most frequent occasion at the site. Google news has article after article of patients escaping from the site..just as it is now, There is no fence or barrier to keep patients in. Some patients were given grounds passes, granting them access to most of the site unsupervised..there's at least over 100 articles of patient escapes..One includes an individual who went AWOL and took a bus to New Haven county (wallingford I believe) bought a knife..murdered a 16 year old girl..and then took a bus back to the Norwich State Hospital site.. Prettty twisted.
It's odd they'd say that there were no signs of foul play etc..The odds of two people dieing at the same time in the same car..of natural causes would be quite rare! Like I said..Im going to look into it, just out of curiosity to see what might have caused these two people to simultaneously die in a car off 2A..
Publish me- police said there were no signs of foul play at the scene, and nothing drug related so that was the main reason I was waiting for the autopsy results, unless they popped some crazy pills just out of their pocket.
I heard someting a little while ago, it could be a myth that there were two patients at nsh who were brother and sister and they would always try to escape, they were nearly professionals at it or someting, and this was towards the end of the hospitals life, I'd say the 80's. So maybe the two people in the car was them. I don't know just a crazy thought linking two things together.
It's also quite possible that it was drug related..Maybe They had just picked up some drugs and both shot up on the side of the road..It could have been something stronger than they'd expected and PRESTO!! two dead bodies in a car.. I have to go to the library tomorrow anyways..I should be able to find some kind of update on that article..If it was printed..It's there.
My email Is Awardedpub@gmail.com ..Speaking of E-mail.. I have been receiving emails from a lot of people who browse this forum for information..(which is 100% fine) ..but why don't they post here!! ..are we really that hard to get along with? I do enjoy lending a helping (suggestive) hand with information regarding the sites history (etc)..I have done a lot of research and hard-work at the Norwich site..In the end..It pays off.
Another crazy thing-I can't find the updated article that had the names, WTF?
Pm- it's 2A...if you're coming from over the bridge; take a left towards the hospital-then take the next right (directly across from kettle- you'll see the path on the right. There's still "state props no tresspassing" signs up. It's right before a little cove, it was/is technically nsh property. What's your email, I'll send you some details on that.
Joey-idk, I guess that's possible...I'm leaning towards something like this though; middle aged bro and sis, maybe going through some rough times, figure they'd take whatever money they had and hail Mary it at the casino. If they lose...well game over. I'm pretty sure they were from, like stafford springs... or somewhere a bit out of the way, so that's partly why I came up with that theory... but it works for yours too.
Yeah thats what I was talking about, I have looked for a while to try to find some decent information on this but I can't. Maybe the brother and the sister were patients at the hospital, plus if they were by the incinerator wouldnt theyt have to know it was there, and how to get there, etc.
As strange as it seems..And still interesting..The video shows them down much farther from the Norwich State Hospital site..At least to my eye it seems that way.. I've traveled RT2 pretty often..and would say that's much farther up the road from the Thames Bridge..
The deaths are the interesting part..Maybe I can dig around at the library for any type of death notice. There's got to be some kind of information regarding two random middle aged people's bodies being found in a car. My assumption was that we were talking (on-site) in the main complex..THAT would make this much more interesting.
Hopefully this works...
www.theday.com
www.youtube.com
Yep it was very odd, also that nothing was ever said on what happened. There was an article update, on the original, saying autopsy scheduled for....and they'd have more info coming. I checked for a week or two after that and never found out. I do remember that they were 40-50ish-and siblings. The names were in that update, I'll see if I can dig that up.
I will have to dig around and see if I can find the article on the brother and sister.. Maybe I can get the names and find out what hapend..It's rather odd that two people would be found dead in a car...for any reason. Dont you think? ..
Yeah, there was a brother and sister found dead in their car by the incinerator, just a couple months back. I never heard what happened exactly-but yeah that was in the news and linked on here.
Hey jpt, sparkles, pm, ken, archie and everyone else.
No, Never read any articles about anyone being found dead at the site.. There was also another one rumored a while back here..About "A man who wanted to explore NSH all his life..but died tragically in the theater" ..someone supposedly stole the memorial for said individual..I researched it..but found nothing along those lines at all.
I've heard of stolen cars being found on site..from another member here. But never bodies.
I remember reading a little while back about a brother and a sister who were found dead in their car on the nsh site, has anyone else heard anything about that, it kinda seems swept under the rug to me.
The pics on Opacity are alright The pictures of the pin-setting patients are actually quite cool..But the overall abandonment photo's are pretty weak..
The first link "personal account" was interesting..Given the time frame..And like they said in the article patients did take part in a lot of activities on site. You can still see the remnants of the Holiday parties and gift drives stuffed in the tunnels. Norwich is really difficult to talk about..Because it's really a "wash" as some would say.. Does the good outweigh the bad? ..Maybe- Maybe not.. There's actually quite a bit of dispute throughout the internet about the overall "treatment" of patients..Now, When I hear treatment..I'm assuming medicine etc..Apparently that's not the case.. It's all about the physical abuse etc..And this has already been argued over hundreds of times..My belief is that IF there was to be any physical harm done to patients it was either Self-defense.. OR (this will get them going) A pissed off aid.. Nurses were recruited to the site..To "learn" the trade. There were no real qualifications at that time..(I wish I had the article)..At any rate..This is opinion of course..(Hypothetically) You have a nurse who's working a double shift..irritated and exhausted from the long day at work.. A patient who is being a bit to much for her wont co-operate..The nurse uses physical force on said individual in order to get the patient to comply. (sounds probable?)
As far as the second link.. Meh. That Corey Sipe doesn't know when to quit.. I can't discredit any of the information he has given.. Even though he's been seen talking with "patients" who look nothing less than "Sloth" from the Goonies.. "baby ooth" ..I've read the articles..I just disagree with some of the statements he posts in the articles..He's always quoting people..this way no-one can tell him he's full of shit.. The best way I have found to discredit a man such as Corey Sipe..Is to investigate the exact story he is publishing..disprove the article on paper..Wipe you a** and mail it to him With 6 stamps on the envelope.
www.associatedcontent.com
psychservices.psychiatryonline.org
What do you think of the pics posted on Opacity?
Sparkles is hard at work..School is surely much more important!!! She's alive and kickin' from what I understand. She never did send me those Gold Rubles though..
JPT JPT..Your right one the money with this post.. Research can only lead you to what "the man" says happened. Which is why I choose to explore..I too am weary of what is said in most reports. (except the Physicians logs) However like your saying..If they were truly trying to hide something..then they would cover it up with nice clean-cut terminology for what really happened. Exploring can't disprove some of the things that are written in the case files..Nor can it confirm it. But investigating more into the patient involved has proved pretty useful to me.. Much like the case of the wallet in the shackle..The woman's name SS card and grounds pass were found wrapped in the edge of a sheet restraint..The pass was signed in the 60's..and she had died in the 90's..No death certificate was arranged with a COD report..At either NSH nor CVH's files. What happened here?
Truthfully..there wasn't much need (in my opinion) to cover up most of the deaths in the earlier years of mental health..They weren't fully equipped to deal with suicidal patients..Nor were they exactly experienced in most of the treatments that were being tested back then.. I've seen an x-ray of a child with a spike through the skull..that's kind of extreme ?
First off, hey Stab, Archie, Bomb, et all. hope you're all having a bang up summer. What, did Sparkles and Paul elope? Havent seen much from you guys. One thought- protection, protection, protection!
Pubme, there is one major flaw in your research, and I honestly dont know how to overcome it- You are reading after action reports, and 99% of the official reports have been 'sanitized' verbally to reduce liability. History written by the victors kind of thing. On the other sides of the coin, you have the unofficial stories that may have been embellished to make them more entertaining.
There are even books written that give the writer the proper terms to use- In DOC, a CO grabs an inmate, and slams him to the floor, cuffs him and drags him to a cell. But his report will read: ...I took hold of inmate Smith, who became combative. I then took inmate Smith to the floor, applied restraints to prevent him from harming himself or others, and escorted him to a cell."
So who do you believe?
Architect..You seem to have forgotten ME!!!!
Ken- I too got a giggle out when I saw that article..Seems to me it must have been hard work for him to vote out the vice chair..He indeed..needed a week off. It's really not like they talk about too much at those meetings. They tend to review the overall plans for the site..Then they inform the board that the grass has been mowed..and so on.. I follow it closely however because it is in fact a good source for information on where exactly they stand.. Plans change..and that's always something good to keep in mind.
i just wanted to say hi to all my ol friends on here, jpt, sparkles, paul, bomb, and whoever else. ive been terribly busy with college right now but i just wanted to stop by and say i havent forgotten about yall.
Factually..Patients today are treated the same..But for lets say different reasoning. Here's the case.. Your admitted to the psych unit due to extreme "behavior"..You spend nearly 7-9 days in the unit being treated for irrational thoughts, Then your told your going home..Why? ..Am I "cured".. No.. Your insurance company will not approve a stay longer than this time frame.. I've seen people walking out of Yale Hospital's psych unit nearly stumbling from all the medications they had been placed on..And leaving with no money.. No ride.. Sometimes..Not even a place to call home. Other larger institutions are actually quite efficient..After being placed in the facility they will keep you there for an assessment..following diagnosis..then treatment.. and in most cases..are either A) Released and sent to an out-patient program where the individual can work with a therapist and case worker who will not only keep the individual on the medication provided but will also set-up an option for safe-housing and job opportunities.. Or B) the individual is sent to an inpatient housing facility where they receive one on one and group therapies to further treat the individual.
Now..im not sure about the "criminally" insane..Surely CVH is a good assumption on where they are sent. I am 100% aware of the treatments that were used in the past there..They're very similar to it's sister site.. Norwich. Reviewing the patient records etc there..You'll see that frontal lobotomies etc were very much so present there. However..I believe it's more about medications such as Thorazine etc now..It seems to be the theme of these sites now.. It's just meant to keep the patient sedated and keeping them from harming themselves..Or someone else. Walk through a psychiatric facility present day..Patients are the walking dead..Drones..Zombies.. They're all too sedated to nearly function.
28 days/weeks later was a pretty extreme zombie movie..It was entertaining for the fact of how tactical these (unrealistic) zombies were..It was a rage virus from those cool little chimps no? ..bastards.
Unfortunately, the life-skills taught were inadequite in many cases- after they were determined to be able to be released into society, a patient was taken to downtown, given money and a bus ticket back to his home town, and told to wait for the bus. Some did, some went off and spent the money on other things, and became another homeless person who went off their meds, and the problems came back, just not in their original towns, but in Norwich or the surrounding area.
28 days later. Damn, I barely remember that one, seems it had the "Rage" zombies, not dead but incredibly violent, right? Almost feral? And they were fast, as I recall.
Watched a z grade/budget zombie film, "Mad" looks like killer raw hamburger is the root of all evil now! Mad was Bad, but funny!
sigh.....now i would LOVE to take a stroll thru Bell, or any of the rest of NSH. Damned old age!
JPE? pardon my ignorence, but that joke eludes me.
Might not be able to 'keep up' physically, but more than make up for it intellectually!
I see that now things have "cooled" down a bit for the mystery arsonist in the Norwich area..The air is cool so you grabbed your old name again? ...Glad you've been exploring a lot lately. Next week I'm driving down to Florida..Surely this gives me a chance for some pretty sweet locations along the way. You're right about the Bell Building..and the purpose of the "tokens" were meant to teach the patients (as you said) life-skills..before they were released back into a community setting..However all the buildings that had housed patients had some sort of isolation area..Look at any of the buildings that actually housed patients and you will notice there are at least two rooms setup differently..for that purpose. The history of the buildings are actually much more obtainable than you'd think..All it takes is a simple e-mail and a free library card..I have the name of a librarian that will personally walk you through the juicy stuff..
Joey..no need to be defensive..I was just put-off that you have already been on site..yet are asking us for P.O.E's .. That's rather incriminating don't you think? That's all I was saying.. ..Now..back to my lava-java
Many of the buildings there (especially the older ones) were used for different things over the years. That and a lack of complete documentation on the place, make it tough to get the full picture of nsh history. I've seen people argue about various areas there, when really they were both right- depending on the timeframe. Ok, I personally like to go by what I can find at a place, firsthand. From the layout of it; it seems to have been intended as your typical patient housing, dorms with isolation rooms around the edges. There are also the institutional bathrooms with showers and double bathtubs, the bathtubs being in the center of the room and set up so the patients could be observed. Then, there's the hospital currency, designed to teach life skills to patients who would be released to live on their own. It all says "Bell Building" on it, and the trade school is over there- so that section must have been something like a life skills/independent living unit. Perhaps bell was the housing for said unit. If you're asking because you saw those three...ahh, unique rooms...those and some of the items around there were setup.
I was just asking a question about one of the buildings in the back that less people talk about (Bell). I just was wondering what it was used for, sure I was there and saw it but that doesnt mean I know some of it's history.
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