Have you ever had one of those weekends where everything just seemed to go right? This past Friday my brother-in-law Jim picked me up and brought me home with him after work, where I spent the night at my sister Shawn’s house and enjoyed some of the best mushroom & green pepper pizza I’ve ever eaten.
The next morning, my friend and former classmate Diana (who lives an hour south of my sister, near Fairmont WV) picked me up for an outing in “Wild n’ Wonderful West Virginia”.
That’s their state slogan and they did not disappoint!
Our plans were to tour an insane asylum in Weston WV that’s been closed for decades, but to stop along the way first in a little town named Buckhannon for lunch.
I fell in love with Buckhannon the moment we got out of Diana’s car. On a scale of 1 to 10 for picturesque small towns, Buckhannon rates an 11. It’s town center was filled with a couple thousand people, and when we asked what was going on, were told it was their Annual ‘High School Bands from Around the World’ parade. In a little town in West Virginia? Yep—we went to a sandwich shop, got lunch and proceeded to watch marching bands from Germany, Spain, Canada, France, Ecuador & Kenya (among others) play music and march down Main Street. Unreal!
We then got in Diana’s car and headed to the Lunatic’s Asylum.
The Trans-Allegheny Lunatics Asylum was built in the 1860s during the Civil War; intended for 200 patients, it wound up housing 2,000 instead.
Built of sandstone, the asylum is considered the largest of its type in the world, 4 stories high with over 10,000 windows and a quarter-mile wide.
In operation for over 100 years, it not only kept “lunatics”, but had separate buildings for the criminally insane, an orphanage for children born there or taken from patients, and people with tuberculosis.
It had it’s own morgue (and graveyard with numbered tombstones—no names), and the top floor contained doctor’s apartments and nurse’s quarters.
Why just work there, when you could live there too with the wife & kids? Ironically, the fourth floor also housed some of the asylums most frightening patients. “Goodnight and sweet dreams kids, and whatever you do don’t open that door!”
On the ground floor completed in 1864 housed the asylum’s first 9 patients (all women). If you click on the photo below, you can see why they were admitted. Dementia, dropsy and “Mad Hatters Syndrome”. Women hatmakers were often committed after getting mercury poisoning used to construct ladies wide brimmed hats.
I neglected to take pictures of the asylum’s ballroom, a pretty grand affair on the top floor where the local high school held their proms until 1971!
We’re planning on visiting the asylum again; besides the “4 Floor Tour” we went on, they also have “Tours of the Criminally Insane” and a couple of VERY interesting Paranormal Tours. Until then…
Sounds like a fun day! I've been to the West Virginia Penitentiary, another neat place you should tour. - Danielle
ReplyDeleteThanks Danielle, I'll put that on the "to-do" list. :^)
DeleteWe have an asylum here, and the stories are so very sad. Do you know why there were so many more women commited then men? If a woman was too strident, or not obedient enough, a PITA to her husband in any way, or just simply an impediment to a new relationship, the husband could go to the court and have her adjudged to be insane. She'd be put away for life and have no say in the matter at all. I worked in one of the buildings there, and it had a covered entrance. That was to allow the screaming women to be taken from their buggies and whisked inside without being seen.
ReplyDeleteThanks Debby, and we did learn the same (about women) here. On the other hand, the only way a woman could have her husband committed was if she could prove he was an alcoholic (and most wives were afraid to). Unreal.
DeleteWell, that is a very interesting place and town, for sure! I loved learning about the insane asylum. Not many people go to them for visits, I suspect. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks DJan, and you'd be surprised--they told us that ALL their funding comes from visitors tours only, and there was several groups of people when we were there. Oh wait, were you kidding with me? :^)
DeleteWhat an interesting, if slightly creepy building to visit. The dichotomy between the doctor's apartment and the patient's small space is startling. I'm with you, I can't imagine living on the site with a young family.
ReplyDeleteThanks Maebeme, and different times to be sure--I just cannot imagine wanting to live there. (The doctor's apartments were very spacious, but still...)
DeleteThe asylum is both shocking and horrifying. Thank goodness these places do not exist today. Maybe they do in some form? The bands sound outstanding. You and Diana are looking good and having a great time in WV. Life is good!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much Susan, and we did debate this--do institutions like this still exist in some form? Is their absence the cause of the homeless problem in the US? Anyway, you're certainly right about life being good--it was on Saturday at least! :^)
DeleteTheir absence is definitely part of the homeless problem. Here in Adelaide when the Glenside Mental Hospital shut down, the number of homeless on the streets tripled almost overnight. They are supposed to be housed in facilities somewhere, boarding houses and such, but...what more can I say?
DeleteInteresting tour, Dug. Scary and sad. And I can't imagine living there or raising kids in that place. Cute pic at the end. I like your friend's haircut!
ReplyDeleteThank you Rian, and that asylum did give a new appreciation for life in the present. Too often we look at the past thru rose colored specs. And I'll let Diane know what you said about her haircut, she is a super-nice person :^)
DeleteWhat a fascinating although horrifying tour! The difference between the patients' quarters and the opulence of the rest of the place was eye-opening. It shouldn't have been surprising, I guess. You've had a busy and wonderful time and have been doing so many activities. Fun to get out and be social!
ReplyDeleteWell put and thanks Margaret! Well, I've been living the last few years like a hermit, I thought I'd see how the other half lives. At least until winter gets here. :^)
DeleteDoug, it sounds like you had a great weekend! How nice you got away. The paranormal tours sound interesting. In a town about an hour away from us you can visit a penitentiary from around the same time. We hope to get to that some day.
ReplyDeleteTake care.❤️
Thank you Robin! I was thinking of you on Sunday when I saw the marching bands from Canada in that international parade... both bands dressed as cowboys and looked pretty spiffy :^)
DeleteAny particular reason you decided on visiting this attraction? Sounds interesting but truly not my cup of tea. Lunch and the parade is more my speed. Glad you both enjoyed the outing. I've been recently fascinated with the Haunted Cresson Sanitorium but not enough to visit. Maybe you and Diana would enjoy that. (From my favorite website: https://pabucketlist.com/visiting-the-cresson-sanatorium-in-cambria-county/)
ReplyDeleteBobi thank you for sharing that, I'll be sure to check it out! Listen, I admit this kind of stuff intrigues me but I would've been more than happy if we'd just had lunch and seen that parade. It was full of talent and culture, and we loved how the townspeople cheered these kids on. I told my sister I was ready to leave Pittsburgh and move there. :^)
DeleteI agree with the others, a sad but interesting bit of history. The building looks lovely, too bad they can’t use it for something. Mental institutions do still exist. There is one in my home state of KS that is still in use. Glad you got out with family and friend! Joyce
ReplyDeleteThank you Joyce, and interesting these still exist... I sure hope that one in Kansas is run differently than this one was! It is a shame more can't be done with this place, it is H-U-G-E. They told us it would take six hours just to step one foot into every room.
DeleteSuch a huge empty building would make an excellent rooming house for the homeless.
DeleteI'm stunned the high school had proms there until 197! Halloween parties maybe, but proms? Interesting that it was so big to be able to have 4 institutions in one building.
ReplyDeleteBut, you didn't tell us anything about YOUR medical lobotomy procedure? How did that go? Did they fix your abdominal pain too? Not sure they would have neutered you on that visit though.
Steer clear of Osawatomie Hospital in Kansas. It is still a mental hospital. My nursing school tour included their tunnel between buildings and lotsa folks in the cemetery.
Many TB sanitariums in similar huge buildings existed throughout the country during the late 1920s to early 1940s. My Mother's Mom got TB and died when my Mom was 12 years old. My Mom told of the rare visits she had when her Mom was there, standing on the lawn, looking up to her Mom in the window of the sanitarium. Nowadays, if you have TB and won't take your meds, in some states you can be arrested and held to take them.
Past medicine is pretty gruesome. Check out the movie "Cider House Rules" for medical history. Linda in Kansas
Thanks very much for sharing Linda, I always go back and read your comments at least two or three times! First of all, those institutions I mentioned were all in different buildings on a humongous campus. I would have shared more pictures, but I worried this post was too big already. Second, aren't you funny about my lobotomy! Do I do wish they would have worked on my abdomen, funny you mention that.. anyway, I'm very sorry to read about your own grandmother. my gosh, I can't imagine. As for Cider House Rules, I read that book years ago I totally forgot about that! Thanks again, Linda.
DeleteSo, where did all these patients go after the asylum was shut down? It's sad they were treated so poorly. On the other hand, many homeless people are mentally ill, but decline meds and treatment. Something should be done for them.
ReplyDeleteGood questions, Gigi--I wish I knew. As for the current homeless population, I think it's getting worse every year. It's wrecked cities like Los Angeles & San Francisco. :^(
DeleteSo very sad that many were locked away for things that these days are treatable or at least manageable. I wonder though what is "dropsy"?
ReplyDeleteIt would be an interesting tour and I'm glad you will go again so we can see more of it.
I can't imagine going to a prom held in such a place though. Nor living there with my children.
River I believe "dropsy" is the old-school medical term for a poor heart condition. And you're so right, I can't imagine living in such a place with kids but I guess 100 years ago, these places were just an accepted part of life...
DeleteI like that final shot, you look like a pair of boomer amateur detectives. Carl :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Carl, I was thinking along the lines of the Silver Ghost Hunters.. 😄
DeleteOh wow! That's pretty darn horrifying. It kind of brings to mind One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I wonder what the asylums are like now. I hope they've improved totally. Those masks are actually very artistic.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay and yes we were very impressed with those masks too. 🙂
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