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.
this site is for sharing of information yet not a single person answered the easiest of questions.
Also, could anyone provide me with the location of the "cooler shed" on the main campus, please? What building(s) fascilitate the "cooler shed"?
anyone that has ever been close knows what it is and where it is yet nobody answers.
right on route 12 is a hebrew cemetary, basicly to the right of the kettle building. the "cooler" is behind that.there is a small semi circle like driveway in front of it you can even park there and explore the cemetary, down the little side street is brewster cemetary with some very old (1700's) graves and you can look right at the chiller from there
did you know that from the early 1800s there has been more than twice as many women alive than men. What a tard!
i found some old documents today an i thought what was on them was really funny did you know that from 1950 to 1980 the female patients count was heigher then the male patients count.at nsh now what,s really funny now it,s 2010 thing have not changed the the count is still highter an you know guy,s there just has crazy
just think about how much fun it will be when the new security company starts in march.there also talk about ssc having one gaurd on per shift if preston keep them any whey you look at it this is going to be some fun times for all of us
Estimates on the 61 acres of the norwich parcel alone is 5 million to clean it up. Sorry, folks, but if I get 5 mil, I aint buying an abandoned, decrept, decaying asylum!
faggot
you know what? im going to buy nsh myself. and it will be all mine.
Good idea. Except for the fact that no one seems to be able to get along with each other. I thought of it a long time ago but realized that it would never happen. It is a good thought though. But that's all it will ever be, a thought.....
well im not familiar with what they did exactly for waverly hills but im thinking if we get together a group and start takeing donations and doing fundraisers and shit like that like what normal societys do we could pull it off. what we really need is someone whos done this before or knows someone who has. i say if people go to one of these meetings we out to suggest it to the state.
nice thought dum ass. thought the same thing myself. but how wuld any1 ever raise enuff $ to do anything?
i say we create a nsh society, buy the property and fix it up a little and have tours through it like they did at the waverly hills sanitorium in kentucky, that way we u.e. dont have to worry about security or anything it would be ours to play around with, go and google what they did with the waverly hills sanitorium, i think that would really work in our favor
State orders sale of Norwich Hospital property Leaders confident city is in control of land's zoning
Search provided by Premier Guide Featured Business » By MICHAEL GANNON Norwich Bulletin Posted Jan 20, 2010 @ 11:39 PM Norwich, Conn. — Less than 24 hours after the Norwich City Council voted not to buy the former Norwich Hospital property from the state, Gov. M. Jodi Rell directed the Department of Public Works to advertise the land for sale.
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously rejected the state’s offer to sell the property to the city for $1, citing a bad economy and cleanup and carrying costs that could exceed $5 million.
Rell spokesman Adam Liegeot said Wednesday he did not have any timelines for the sale process.
“I’m sure the governor would like this to proceed as quickly as possible,” Liegeot said.
So would Mayor Peter Nystrom.
“This moves things forward,” Nystrom said Wednesday. “We made a good decision. The right decision to protect the interests of the city.”
Alderman Tucker Braddock said the city still has the right to purchase the property.
Nystrom and Council President Pro Tempore Pete Desaulniers said if the 61 acres wind up with a private developer, Norwich still can exercise great control over what is built there.
“No matter what happens, it still has to come back to us through zoning,” Desaulniers said. “Whoever they want to sell it to has to come before us to present something.”
He said Tuesday the city still lacks a plan for the site, but denied officials have just sat and done nothing for nearly three years. He said a final plan will be part of a larger, all-encompassing effort embraced in Nystrom’s State of the City address, including groups such as the Norwich Community Development Corp., Rose City Renaissance and the Norwich Downtown Revitalization Committee.
No homes wanted “We do know what we don’t want there — housing,” he said.
Nystrom said no housing is permitted on the parcels without a permit — something he vowed will never be granted while he is serving in the council’s capacity as zoning authority.
The hospital closed in 1996 and the land has been vacant since then. Desaulniers said he does not expect it to remain vacant for another 14 or 15 years. Nystrom does not know if the state can land a private developer.
“There’s one way to find out,” he said.
Immediately after rejecting the state’s deal Tuesday, the council passed a resolution directing City Manager Alan Bergren to contact the state in an effort to explore “different acquisition terms ... to facilitate the ultimate disposition and reuse of the property, in the economic interest of the city and the region.”
City not out Resident Keith Ripley believes Rell’s order will allow just that.
“It’s a natural part of the process — what the city wants to do and what the state has to do,” he said. Ripley also believes it is a sign that the state has no intention of just sitting on the property.
Bob Mills, executive director of the Norwich Community Development Corp., was not surprised by the move.
“It’s what (Rell) is doing with all the other surplus property in the state,” he said.
Mills said a private developer would have lower clean-up costs, but still would have to bring in a project that would offset the $3 million to $5 million cost.
“That would mean a higher-end project for the city,” he said. But if the state were to retain ownership, it would be exempt from Norwich zoning codes.
“If they wanted to put in a prison or a parking lot, we would have to just sit by and watch,” he said.
Former Mayor Ben Lathrop said he was disappointed, but said the city had to balance things against economic realities.
He also defended Norwich against charges it failed to act.
“We began environmental studies before I was even mayor,” he said. “We had forums. We brought in NCDC. We established a review committee. But you have to have priorities.”t
It was in the bulletin, I believe, right after the town declined to purchase it from the state for 1$. A day or two after.
Where exactly did you read about the state putting the norwich-portion up for bid?
And running naked with scissors is always fun. haha
That the state is putting the norwich portion up for bid- Yes, kiddies, you could OWN a piece of NSH! Then you could run thru the halls naked with scissors if you so chose!
Preston officials: Hospital site’s fate remains with public Officials tell voters they control plans
Search provided by Premier Guide Featured Business » By DEBORAH STRASZHEIM Norwich Bulletin Posted Jan 28, 2010 @ 11:42 PM
Preston town officials emphasized Thursday night that taxpayers, not the Preston Redevelopment Agency, have the ultimate power to decide what happens to the former Norwich Hospital property.
“Every step we take has to come back to the town for approval. We work for you,” Agency Chairman Kent Borner told an audience of about 25 gathered at Preston Veterans’ Memorial School. The agency held an informational meeting and public hearing at the school to outline the conceptual plan for the 390-acre site, now referred to as Preston Riverwalk.
Residents at a town meeting will vote on the plan at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 11 at the school.
The conceptual plan divides the property into six areas, then suggests different types of development, based on geographical and other features they have. The main hospital campus is slated for high intensity, mixed-use development, for example. The northern- most portion of the property, also heavily forested, is recommended for open space.
The plan would serve as a guide for developers, but is not etched in stone, agency member Sean Nugent said. He pointed out that the group also made adjustments based on public comments, such as providing public access to desirable sites, not including a golf course, and limiting housing to assisted living or apartments above commercial space.
Agency member Kerry Gentry displayed an organizational chart to remind the audience the agency works under the Board of Selectmen, which works for the town.
First Selectman Robert Congdon said he is aware there’s concern about the amount of power the Redevelopment Agency has.
But he said residents have the ultimate voice.
“We all need to remember that (at) the town meeting, you certainly have power to take their power away,” he said.
You getting mad cuz I'm telling the truth? You don't want people to know that you're nothing but a lying scum bag trying to be something you're not? People see right threw you. And those who don't are stupid.
Why you posting during the daytime anyways?
HEY YOU LIE DETECTER GO F@#$%K OFF ONE MORE TIME F@#$%K OFF
Actually, that guy doesn't know it all. He's not some kind of God. If you all knew where to look then you would have as much info as I have. But I think the male brain, (at least some of yours), is wired wrong. You don't think very logically. I have pages and pages of info that you all don't have. So don't be a conceited dick. But like I said, I wont share with anyone. You are just jealous because I am having way better luck at all this than you are. Well, actually I don't have luck. I have brains. haha. You can talk to this guy all you want but he has nothing on my sources... Glad I am not "affiliated" with your research any longer. You would only have held me back and dragged me down. By the way, using big words doesn't make you smarter than me or anyone else for that matter. But unlike all of you I will be nice and say Good Luck to everyone....
lol im sorry i am no longer affiliated with any research that you are doing, so any info you think you have is of no use to me. so end of that whole ordeal. i will no longer reply to anything posted by you. so good luck in youre research. goodbye.
again about the website that ricky bobby posted, i beleive the guy that created that website has more and knows more info than all of us. so put that in youre pipe and smoke it! lol this is the guy we all need to be talking to, what he has created is way more info than any of us could have ever gotten.
At the risk of sounding like a sexist bitch, you guys suck. Research isn't hard you know. If only you all had the info that I have. I bet I now know more than all of you put together. Too bad Paul is the only one who could play nice. Otherwise I would share. But I wont. I don't just give it all out for free ya know. But I guess you can all just wait for my book to find all the info you want... And fyi, I have your address that you're looking for. haha
dude u r so right! lol ok so heres a thought for everybody, norwich state hospital has no mailing address and i cant find one anywhere
Oh, wonderful. The drama, the loves and lives and conflicts of the NSH U.E.
General Norwich State Hospital? All my Urban Explorers? As the Stomach Turns?
As entertaining as it is to see all the posturing and sabre rattling, can we please get back to the site?
Bomb, I wasnt suggesting you turn 180, you are who you are- but focus your energy on getting the info you are looking for, and try and be less antagonistic- I didnt think you could become a saint, just try playing WITH others, instead of against them, and you'll accomplish more of your goals. Like Navy Seals, you wont know they were there till after they are already gone. Try and antagonize the targets AFTER you have gotten what you want. Otherwise, someone will get a wild hair and make it a point to go after you.
You're lying. We all know it. I saw you several times when you were supposedly "staring at four white walls". How dangerous could a retard like you be anyways? lmao. You ain't sh!t and everybody knows it. So stop dicking around cuz you are only making yourself look that much more like a tool. You pathetic loser. Although I am pretty sure you in fact do belong in a loony bin, you were not in one.... Y'all is dumb if you believe anything this dude says.
for about two month i was staring at four white walls an a locked door that was locked for my safty an others around me. that is what i was told the only human contact i got was the nures that came every hour with my pills.i had alot of time to think. that is were i have been but thank for asking bro.NOW I CAN SAY THIS IAM BACK BUT YOU ALL KNOW WHAT I MISS MOST THE SHADOWS SO AS I SAID IN MY LAST POST FRIDAY NIGHT YOU ALL KNOW WERE THE BOMB WILL BE. AN BABYGIRL HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE OK AN LOL I HOPE TO SIT WITH YOU IN THAT TREE SOME DAY.HAHAHAHA
wow! ok cool i was just makeing sure we werent dealing with an impostor. youre posts were worded so different i just didnt know if it was really you. where you been?
this cooler shed you talk about is really called the chiller it is also were the gaurds set up camp. now to all this drama all i can say is holy shit !. AN I WILL POST WHAT I WANT WHENEVER I WANT TO.i have done some thinking an this being good is for the bird,s so this coming friday the old bomb is back so i hope the gaurd s at nsh get there sleep there going to need it lol. an to gatekeeper the last post was me i was trying to be a good boy you no i can keep my horns in for so long.but there slowly coming back out.you know its funny how clear thing be come when the door is locked to your room an all you have to stare at is white walls an then the nice lady brings you your pills.friday iam getting out but friday night iam going to nsh the gaurds have hade it to easy. to anybody ready this see you there IAM BACK
Well, the person who wrote up the history did a great job quoting the sources of info at the end of "Part 1"; maybe contacting the author of the article(s) would be a definate help with your paranormal investigation(s). The authors probably did alot more reseach and knows alot more about the Hospital than what they could write up (politics wanting to show "the positive side" and put the spin that way).
I am interested in the Salmon, Kettle, and buildings across the main road near the lake. Any one got any info on these building (usage, history, etc.)?
ok now that all the drama is out of the way, i checked out the website that ricky bobby has posted and i have to say wow, this is increadible work. this is exactly what i have been looking for, so thank you to ricky bobby. now a good idea would be to match this data up with key history points in the hospitals history, also this will also be a good bearing as far as ghost hunting goes because we now have info on who or what could be haunting this place.
so to all the u.e. out there, lets get very aggressive and figure out a way to get into this place legally and do what we came here to do!! at least for me its not only to create crazy ass theorys but communicate with the spirits that roam the campus, and see if they have there own side to the story. so lets all stay focused, i know a lot of bullshit has been happening the last few days but right now is not the time to toy around, this place is on the verge of being demolished, we need all we can get before the state gets rid of this thing. we dont have much time to waste. so i say we up our efforts and really dig up whatever we possibly can!! lets roll guys!
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