The rise and fall of the state hospital system.

• Author: Murray, Matthew

PERCHED ATOP A HILL overlooking a small college town in Ohio (United States), Athens State Hospital--now known as The Ridges--has an imposing presence that the banners for the art gallery in the central building do little to diminish. While a fraction of the building is currently in use by Ohio State University, the majority of the aging Kirkbride hospital has been left to the peaceful solitude of its own decay. The hallways and rooms, still peppered with fragments of the past, are rife with uncharted mold and bacteria; the walls have become intricate murals of the eroding lead paint that dusts the floor and poisons the air.

In many senses, Athens State Hospital is an anomaly. It has been incredibly well preserved and protected from thieves and vandals, and reminders of its history are still intact. Most state hospitals, such as Byberry State Hospital in Philadelphia, have been completely left to the elements and are easily accessible to anyone who cares to research them and risk getting caught by the meagre security forces that guard them. Such sites are frequently seen as a problem to the communities they are part of, due in part to the fact that an entire subculture of self-titled urban explorers has developed, populated by people ranging from those with a deep and abiding respect for the sites to those who look at them as opportune sites for graffiti and vandalism. While these sites are extremely toxic, the dangers are often invisible to those who enter. Asbestos and lead particles in the air do not affect one's health immediately and rotting floors often give no signal of their structural weakness until it is too late. Furthermore, these sites are on prime locations for development, yet their historical significance is undeniable, and often the cleanup of hazardous materials makes costs prohibitive.

While now famous for the abuses and horrors that took place inside, most state hospitals were initially beautiful, idyllic campuses founded in the late 1800s, largely in response to the tremendous need for mental health care for veterans of the United States Civil War suffering from what would later be labelled post-traumatic stress disorder. Public awareness of the need for adequate and full-time care for the mentally ill was higher than ever, and reformers like Dorothea Dix (1802-1887) and Thomas Kirkbride (1809-1883) helped promote what would become an unparalleled movement to create asylums funded by state and local governments to tend to the needs of the mentally ill. Such...