Essex County Mental Hospital
WARNING: the Sheriff's Office of Essex County do NOT tolerate trespassers. They regularly conduct plainclothes surveillance operations at the hospital. If you trespass, you will get arrested and prosecuted. DON'T DO IT!!
It seems like yesterday season five of Ghost Hunters premiered. Now we have reached the mid-season finale. The chosen location is Essex County Mental Hospital.
Essex County Mental Hospital once went by the name of Overbrook. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the city of Newark, New Jersey purchased land and built many buildings to house mental patients and facilities. The hospital contained a power house, theater and laundromat. Unfortunately, in the winter of 1917, the hospital reported a boiler failure. Twenty people died, some from freezing to death. Thirty-two others suffered from frostbite.
Matters grew worse thanks to the Great Depression. Many institutions, including Overbrook, became overcrowded with the hungry, homeless, and destitute. World War II food rations led to dismal living conditions and near starvation. The end of WWII made the situation worse. Many veterans returned with shell shock or post traumatic stress disorder. Hospital staff could not cope with overpopulation and patient care suffered. There were escape attempts, violence among residents, starvation, neglect, abuse, and suicides. Many patients were subjected to barbaric treatments such as hydrotherapy, prefrontal lobotomy, and diathermy. It's estimated over ten thousand patients died at Essex County Mental Hospital.
Thanks to the inventions of new medicine, the patient population decreased during the 1960s and 1970s. In 2007, Essex County Mental Hospital closed for good. The grounds were turned in to a 90-acre county park. At the south end of the site, several buildings were demolished about a year later.
Overbrook Insane Asylum was used in the film Choke starring Anjelica Huston. Many crew members had ghostly experiences. One member experienced a satanic dark energy in building five and refuses to talk about it til this day. Extreme Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel, not to be confused with Ghost Adventures the series, also investigated the site. Now, it's TAPS turn. Will they see the ghost nurse? Or perhaps capture the sounds of bangs, screams and/or direct threats? We will find out tonight.
For more information on Essex County Mental Hospital check out the Weird NJ website: http://tinyurl.com/db8xn4
It seems like yesterday season five of Ghost Hunters premiered. Now we have reached the mid-season finale. The chosen location is Essex County Mental Hospital.
Essex County Mental Hospital once went by the name of Overbrook. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the city of Newark, New Jersey purchased land and built many buildings to house mental patients and facilities. The hospital contained a power house, theater and laundromat. Unfortunately, in the winter of 1917, the hospital reported a boiler failure. Twenty people died, some from freezing to death. Thirty-two others suffered from frostbite.
Matters grew worse thanks to the Great Depression. Many institutions, including Overbrook, became overcrowded with the hungry, homeless, and destitute. World War II food rations led to dismal living conditions and near starvation. The end of WWII made the situation worse. Many veterans returned with shell shock or post traumatic stress disorder. Hospital staff could not cope with overpopulation and patient care suffered. There were escape attempts, violence among residents, starvation, neglect, abuse, and suicides. Many patients were subjected to barbaric treatments such as hydrotherapy, prefrontal lobotomy, and diathermy. It's estimated over ten thousand patients died at Essex County Mental Hospital.
Thanks to the inventions of new medicine, the patient population decreased during the 1960s and 1970s. In 2007, Essex County Mental Hospital closed for good. The grounds were turned in to a 90-acre county park. At the south end of the site, several buildings were demolished about a year later.
Overbrook Insane Asylum was used in the film Choke starring Anjelica Huston. Many crew members had ghostly experiences. One member experienced a satanic dark energy in building five and refuses to talk about it til this day. Extreme Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel, not to be confused with Ghost Adventures the series, also investigated the site. Now, it's TAPS turn. Will they see the ghost nurse? Or perhaps capture the sounds of bangs, screams and/or direct threats? We will find out tonight.
For more information on Essex County Mental Hospital check out the Weird NJ website: http://tinyurl.com/db8xn4
Comments
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9804E7DD1E3BE03ABC4951DFB467838C609EDE
I had a good experience there. The Psychiatrist I worked with a very caring and professional.