OT: A beautiful day for taking photos

[grandpawrichard]

I took an afternoon off from my wood shop to take a few photos. The drive took me about 8 miles away from my house to the old Northern State Mental Hospital that was closed down in the early 1970's.
My first stop was at the Northern State Hospital Cemetery. It is such a sad and somber place because there is not a single head stone in the whole place. 1,487 people are buried there.

GPR

 

[grandpawrichard]

On a lighter side:

GPR

 

[grandpawrichard]

It's sad to see the state of disrepair that the old buildings are in. In it's hay day, the hospital was a working, pretty much self supporting Dairy Farm that was Always meticulously Maintained. The patients at the hospital all had jobs to do to help pay for their "keep"; unless of course they were a danger to themselves and all of the other inmates, plus the community.

GPR

 

[grandpawrichard]

GPR

 

[grandpawrichard]

and finally, the last of the photos:

GPR

 

[Ambrossiaa]

Wow these are beautiful pics. Would love to explore it, I bet you can feel the history around you.

 

[Lisa66]

Really interesting place, GPR. I love to explore cemeteries and the stories they tell. It's sad that these people were treated as unknowns. I guess the upside is that since there are no markers, there is no issue with them getting neglected too.

 

[plantlvr]

Beautiful photos like always GPR.

 

[grandpawrichard]

Thanks! My wife and I plan to explore the grounds with our cameras the next time she has a day off and we have a good weather day.
My Uncle was employed by this hospital as a Baker when I was a kid. He retired from there when they shut the hospital down. I also have a good friend that worked there for a while before he went into the Military, so I have heard quite a few interesting tales about the facilities and what went on there. Some of the stories give me the heebie-jeebies, and some of them make me laugh!

GPR

 

[EleanorR]