51 Comments Posted by CataclysmicStar

Yellow makes people happier.

One of the pioneer psychologists that studied the effects of color on the mind was Dr. Wendell Garner, who conducted experiments well back during WWII and spent some time on the staff of Yale, I believe.

He was my grandfather-in-law and passed away earlier this month (September). He will be missed.

We had those EXACT SAME clocks in one of my middle schools and in my junior high school in Illinois. That is funny.

Beautiful doors, absolutely gorgeous. A pity they were taken, since it was probably done by a private collector (or a total jerk) and I doubt they'll be seen again.

Horrible that such beautiful architecture is left to crumble. People have such little respect for the past when there is supposedly more money to be made in the future...

I wish I had been old enough to appreciate the city's original brick hospital, St. Mary's, before the brick structure was torn down to put in a basketball court. I now live across the street from where that old building stood, and I have little to no information about it. I believe it was opened in 1861, served through the Civil War, and was state-of-the-art until additions were built behind and around it in the 50s and 60s. In the 70s, a new hospital - Blessing - was constructed just a few blocks west, also on the main road, and by the 80s they were the leading hospital in the area with a large bed count and many talented doctors and nurses there. In the early to mid 90s, Blessing bought out the then-emptied St. Mary's building, tore down one of the two original brick structures (the other, assumedly a small laundry or power facility with an awesome smokestack, is still standing and I can see it out of my bedroom window), and emptied out the St. Mary's building. The 50s building is now used mostly for outpatient treatment, a few offices, the hospital employee's apparel shop, and on the top floor there is the psychiatric ward (lovingly called 6th floor) so that they could keep their psychiatric patients in a separate building from their other paying patients in the Blessing building. I believe that most of the floors are now abandoned, and my husband has not-so-fond memories of going up alone to clean a couple of the floors. He said it was creepy being alone up there, and the colors and architecture was most obviously from the 50s or so.

If that fridge (or ice-box) truly is from the 60s - 70s, I'm impressed. My mom's fridge is a mostly-functioning one from the 70s with the freezer on top. It's an awful reddish-orange (almost rust) color, is maybe 5'9" tall (about my height), and while the icemaker doesn't work as well as it used to and the water dispenser in the fridge no longer works at all, it's still functioning. I doubt, however, that it would be sold as an antique. Past the obviously horrible color, my mother's fridge looks NOTHING like this one - granted, this would have been medical-grade, unlike Mom's.

My husband had to have a TB test both when he started working at a nursing home, and then when he started working at the local hospital. Luckily he never had a positive reaction to the stuff!

This person, it seems, was lucky too - I bet they sighed in relief.

I, too, am amused by the constant assumption that belts are always bad things and the mark of a bad hospital. Obviously Lynne has not seen this conversation. :P

A gorgeous find and undoubtedly worth something to someone, once it was cleaned up, polished, and had a bit of work done to remove the rust. I'm jealous.

And when that building is razed or renovated, you can be sure that you know exactly what will be overlooked...

KARA SUNSHINE! Should you by ANY chance see this again, I too am from Quincy, IL! Please, if you get the chance, email me at kayleighstratton [at] gmail [dot] com.

A testament to the staying powers of Styrofoam, and how inherently evil it is. Worse to think that they would have incinerated these cups to dispose of them, as opposed to throwing them away - as if their presence here isn't bad enough! To think, all the things we've learned since then ...

I love how nonchalant they are about the latter part. "Also notify office by telephone." As if they thought about that at the end of writing up the notice just before it was sent to be printed, and they sighed and realized they probably should put that on there.

Also, can you imagine standing inside a burning building, KNOWING that part of it is on fire but desperately trying anyway to call "the office".. And then not getting through because someone was already on the line.

Amazing how after so many years, the majority of the inner walls and ceilings have deteriorated, but for whatever reason, the window shades - which were probably made of some rather fragile material that became brittle over time - remained intact! I wonder if you'd still be able to touch them at all, though I'd worry they would crumble or discolor horribly if they came in contact with the oils in our skin.

As a sidenote, I'm 22 (just turned this month, woohoo) and found this site purely by accident in a roundabout way, thanks to StumbleUpon. I've become an admitted addict. Mr. Motts, you've done these buildings a great service, especially those that have since been renovated or demolished. You've given them one last shot at being in the limelight and have provided them with an eternal range of new visitors and occupants who, in their subconscious, will forever live in the crumbling walls you've shown. Thank you.

I'm starting to think that I'm finding the rants and editorials more interesting than the pictures.. :P

Funny how back then, that silly, flimsy wood door was considered enough to block off a seclusion room. Oh, how times have changed..

The blue at the end of the hallway is amazing. As if the far door is calling out, beckoning to blue skies and some form of freedom.