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.
Haha....
like stop it Jesus i came here looking for the photos and comments on said fotos i didnt come here to read your damn sob stories!
wtf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you whant to you can stop by an talk you know were i will be at night
I don't even...I mean....whaaaat the shit is happening?
iam really sorry but you know it does get better
what happen one minute you to are doing great then a bomb goes off. i realy hope you two work this out an good luck
iam really sorry but there is no way she could have Call/text Because when all that mess was going on i change my phone number. but again iam realy sorry.
Paul you dick. You think I really want to be with anyone else right now? I'm crushed. I was/am so in love with you. I thought we were going to get married and be together forever. But instead of working on our relationship and fixing it to get back what we once had you just pack your stuff and up and go to CO Wtf? And you don't even leave me the bed. You take that with you too along with my heart. I didn't even get the freakin chair. You took that too! And all the pots and pans. How the hell am I supposed to cook dinner now? And what do you need baking pans for? You don't even bake! Ever! You left me with nothing except a broken heart. Will you ever forgive me for being a bitch and give me another chance?
Yea bomb were done obviously if you read what we posted its all over...I caught her trying to call/txt you late at night...she's all yours man... I won't stand in the way...why do you think I moved to CO? She crushed me...
now when you two mean freed does that mean brakeup i hope ok i think by the time preston get there act to together the money will be spent on legal bull nsh isn't going anwere anytime soon trust me
A great place so full of history, and now I have memories of my own. My life has changed a lot and I have nsh to thank for that. I never would have met the love of my life if it werent for this beautiful place. A lot of good things have come from everything that has happened there over the years, especially to me in the past 2. Like you Paul. I may have freed you but you're the one who flew towards me so thank you. You could have flown anywhere else, but you chose me. I love you so much baby (even if you post things on here that make me cry!)
And everyone else, stop being douchebags. kthnx
So it goes...demolition We stopped by to see the ol girl for the last time... A unique site for sure...it really changed me...my life. And a lot of good things came from there... Like you Sparky...thank you for freeing me.
It's just called laundry..kthx
And to the rest of you, it's called Stribling, not Sterling, kthx.
Does anybody know what happened to the Cutter, and Dix buildings, why arent they there anymore. I have seen old pictures but come to think of it I never remember seeing them there on my travels. When were they torn down?
It is over, it's going down no matter what. A lot of people put a lot of time in trying to get something done about the totally illegal collapse of tunnels. At this point they have permits, a demo team and everything they need to make it happen (except possibly not enough money to finish the job right away). It is being abated already. When that's done there isn't much stopping the wrecking ball.
I'm not trying to stop anyone from trying, by all means try! If anyone can find any legitimate wrong doing-and someone who will actually listen about it- I'll get all the hd video needed.
Honestly though, not much chance on putting a dent in the plan.
Yeah man, I don't drive by much- unless I'm visiting- but yeah, I hate watching the slow painful demise.
You need to go viral with them,and spread it all over the net- eventually, someone with an alternet agenda will get wind, and they will get their lawyers involved, so the can have a legal circle jerk and slow down the process. But that is all that will happen- the NSH is going to be demolished, make no mistake.Its over, people,the time has come
we need to get seaside in forbiden places soon an sparkles were are you.
Rat do not InterTained me lol but rats in pink jackets do lol
Lol you got a point but i really hate anything that has to do with a rat if you know what i mean. hey you know i drive by nsh going a coming home from work an it breaks my heart how about you
Are you not entertained?
Yeah, he's not a rat.. Nobody really needs to tell on people like that-they're perfectly capable of getting themselves caught. Just pointing out that announcing that you b n e'd the place, and that you'll be going back next Sunday...is probably a really bad idea-especially when you rock a hot pink jacket whilst doing all of this.. Ya know? We're here to help, just tough love is all.
Hey pink i think your nothing but a pink rat
Ahhh, I'm sure the police won't be waiting with nice shiny bracelets. Maybe they'll bust out the pink ones. You can accessorize!
Yeah, much of what was said should have been kept on the quiet. And now that EVERYONE knows you're going to be there...
Yep, demo has been happening, slowly. Sterling has had it's solarium knocked down for months. Kettle is probably fairly stripped. They started abating tunnels this week, that's what you saw by admin. Admin is getting it's clean out very soon, btw it's been alarmed since last fall- along with the powerhouse.
So Michele, hot pink jacket....WTF? Not a good stealth color. I wish you hadn't outed that about no one showing up.. Some things are just better left for people to figure out on their own, or at least kept quiet.
After the way you and your crew tore off the board to Admin, don't count on an empty campus this weekend or any doors being open this time.
they statrted demo here it was on channel 8 news if were gonna do something its got to be asap
I was there last weekend. They are currently doing work to demo some of the tunnels as well as removing asbestos from some of the buildings. Admin now has an motion detecting alarm inside. We set it off twice on sunday, and no authorities responded. however, the sound is like a brain aneurysm and the lights that go off with the alarm are like a seizure. There happened to be no security on the day that we went (which is weird, every other time ive been the place has been heavily patrolled), but i wouldnt bet on that happening again. Cant wait to go this weekend. I got a little tip that the doors to Salmon are unlocked right now. Im praying that the security isnt too tight and that we can get in there. Salmon and Admin are the only 2 buildings that we havent been into yet. I will continue going to NSH until all the buildings are completely torn down. I love this place and it will be a sad sad day when its gone.
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