Is this the stairway that leads to the clock tower itself? I wonder if anyone has ever been up there all the way to the top and can describe what it's like up there? I know the clock is a Seth Thomas, and there's also an 800 pound bell as well, which they used to ring every half hour to signal the time to those working in the fields surrounding the asylum, and so they would know when to come in for meals. I'll bet it's extremely hot, dusty, and possibly unstable up top. Not to mention dangerous and dark, with many ledges and dark corners.
I wonder if anyone has made it up INTO the bell tower? I read that the clock was/is a Seth Thomas, and I assume it's still in there. And the bell is an 800 pound bell, which was rung every half hour so those patients and staff members working in the fields would know what time it was, and so they would know when to come in for meals. Can you imagine climbing that probably very winding staircase, possibly a metal circular staircase that slowly winds its way up up and up even further, into the dark crevices of the tower, in complete blackness, only cut through with a flashlight. I'm just DYING to know what the stairs are like that lead all the way to the top of the tower, and how spooky it must be climing all the way to the top, especially since it would have to be done in complete blackness since every window is completely boarded in. And what kind of shape is the 800 pound bell in, is the rope still attached? Does it creak really bad if you try to swing it to see what it sounds like if it's rung? Which of course would probably be heard for miles around if someone actually decided to ring it. And what of the clock, I wonder if it's all still intact. And I also wonder just how high up into the tower you can even get?
Jane, I think the reason there weren't as many T.B. hospitals in the days of Laura Ingalls Wilder is because when she speaks of the "prairie cure" for consumption, she was referring to the late 1880's, which was before most of these T.B. hospitals were built.