Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Medfield State Hospital

Hello darkness my old friend...
I've come to talk to you again...
Because a vision softly creeping...
Still remains within the sound of silence...

{Simon and Garfunkel - The Sound of Silence}


I heard about Medfield State Hospital from a friend at work. The grounds of an abandoned mental hospital about 40 minutes from Boston; all boarded up and open to the public to walk around.

The hospital opened in 1892 and was a campus of small buildings that at its most crowded was home to over 2,000 men and women who were considered mentally unstable to care for themselves and live out in the public.

From what I've read it has a sad history that spanned until it was shuttered in 2003. Walking the grounds was eerie...just the wind in the weeds and the trees. The windows boarded up, the doors boarded and barred with wooden beams, signs warning of dangers of entering inside.

I kept thinking, if walls could talk. It was so calm and quiet. But, I imagine that for many it was not a calm retreat from the city to stroll around, but a place of anguish and pain while battling inner demons.

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17 thoughts on the matter:

Tom said... {Reply}

What a wonderful pairing of Fotos and Tune. As I boy we live near "The State Hospital." Many of the building have also been left to decay. Thanks so much for being a part of Foto Tune this week. I hope that you will return again.

Heather{Our Life In a Click} said... {Reply}

Super eerie photos..especially with that song ringing in my ears. Great job!

Miranda said... {Reply}

I LOVE places like this - I wish you could go inside!! I love your pictures!!! :)

Jarek said... {Reply}

A very mysterious place. Nicely photographed

Dara @ Not In Jersey said... {Reply}

I love that song. Have you heard the new version of it? It's pretty good too. I agree that it looks eerie there!

NCSue said... {Reply}

What a spooky place. It's hard to even begin to imagine what life was like for those who were "treated" there.
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Gina Kleinworth said... {Reply}

I can only imagine what is still lurking there. WOW!

Jeanna said... {Reply}

It doesn't look calm from your excellent photos. Seems more like scouting shots for a season of American Horror Story. Shudder.

abrianna said... {Reply}

I am sure the patients were not treated well. Very sad.

congrats on being the guest picker for 52 Frames last week.

Ida said... {Reply}

Wow this was deep. You captured some haunting images from this abandoned hospital. Love the Ivy covered window.

csuhpat1 said... {Reply}

Wow, what a sad blast from the past. The stories that those walls could say.

DrillerAA09 said... {Reply}

What a shame that one or more of the structures can't be re-purposed into something useful. Still, the site offers some great photo backgrounds.

Unknown said... {Reply}

I'd LOVE to roam around(escorted of course!) these grounds. Can you imagine what is on the inside. And yes...if walls could talk...I'd certainly sit and listen to what they had to say.

Ohmydearests said... {Reply}

moody images...

likeschocolate said... {Reply}

I bet it was gorgeous in it's day! Today I drove down a street in Lowell that I have to go back and take photos of. The houses were amazing! Have a great week!
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Claire Justine said... {Reply}

Great lyrics to the pictures Tamar!!

Sound like a sad place at one time :( Could imagine it being very spooky especially at night!! ..

Molly said... {Reply}

I love places like this. If walls could talk.... there is history here, even if it is painful and sad, we should always remember because otherwise we don't learn and then we repeat the same mistakes

Mollyxxx