A Lunatic Asylum Tour!

We headed east to West Virginia as we thought this would allow us to get another "state" sticker on our map - our rules are we must camp in a state to get a sticker. Usual process I drove and Rose picked a spot- the town of Weston. This location did not offer much for the average tourist which suited us, the countryside was beautiful, so we were happy to just sit and enjoy that.

Our Lovely Grassy Site


Rose Using My "Man Cave" Sink to Hand Wash!!


Another State Sticker



Our first day we spent driving around the area but the second day we opted to do a tour of the one and only tourist attraction in Westin - the Lynatic Asylum - strange but true!

So what is this place?

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, constructed between 1858 and 1881, is the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America, and is purportedly the second largest in the world, next to the Kremlin. It was designed by the renowned architect Richard Andrews following the Kirkbride plan, which called for long rambling wings arranged in a staggered formation, assuring that each of the connecting structures received an abundance of therapeutic sunlight and fresh air. The original hospital, designed to house 250 souls, was open to patients in 1864 and reached its peak in the 1950's with 2,400 patients in overcrowded and generally poor conditions. Changes in the treatment of mental illness and the physical deterioration of the facility forced its closure in 1994 inflicting a devastating effect on the local economy, from which it has yet to recover.

We drove up the long driveway and to be honest it felt a little creepy especially as two tour guides were out front dressed in authentic looking nurses uniforms from decades ago. We entered and you could smell the damp even though the entrance had been restored. The hospital has deteriorated to the point where its very survival is threatened. The entire facility and 300 acres were privately purchased in August of 2007 and renamed Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum and of course the cost of tours goes towards its upkeep. In addition to the general hospital tours they also run ghost tours - no chance!

Looking Up The Driveway to the Asylum






We opted for the the "four" floor tour which would take us through the entire building. Back in the day doctors and nurses were required to live at the hospital so it has doctors quarters which were quite large and the nurses quarters up in the roof which were just a small room with communal bathrooms. Nurses worked 12 hour days with one day off a month. Thankfully those days are long gone.

Doctors Quarters


Nurses Quarter



The tour was a great insight and rather un nerving, no padded cells just an eye bolt in the wall to chain the "bad" patients to. With so many years and so many people passing through here you just can't help to imagine what the place was like. Our guide, a retired school teacher who has lived in the area all his life, shows us how the walls were stencilled with paint otherwise if wallpaper was used patients would peel it off and eat it. He also told us of a school excursion he went on, and yes the hospital was full of patients. He said as they walked through the wards patients glared and touched them! Can you imagine signing that permission slip for your kids? There is also the story of a nurse who worked in the hospital for some 50 odd years and when it closed she had no place to live so a small place was purchased for her to live out her remaining years.

Many of of the areas of the hospital are derelict and in bad need of repair so obviously we were only taken through the relatively 'safe' areas. We toured the X-ray department as well as the morgue (only 2 fridges), the electric shock treatment room and many other areas of this vast self sufficient hospital.

Like all tourist places it has a gift store - not the type of tshirt we would wear back home.

Looking Down The Corridor


X-Ray


Looking Out of the "padded" Cell Door


Going By This We All Would Be Admitted!


Tour done we exited out the front and I took a gulp of fresh air, ahh it felt good to be out of the place.

The next day was just a quiet one for us as reports of a big storm and flash flooding were telecast. We packed all our mats and chairs up and we had one of the biggest storms ever, the rain was so heavy, so heavy in fact it blocked our satellite signal for the TV.

Our batteries recharged we hitched up the following day onwards to Fredonia in New York State which will be the resting place for our truck and 5th wheeler when we return back to Australia.


- Posted by RnR on their IPad

Location:Weston, West Virginia