Comments

I recall going to this park in the late 50's/early 60's. The one part I recall the most was Jonah's whale. The whale was "beached" at the lake and you step into it's mouth.

Is that a window on the wall to the right? If so, was it secured to keep patients out of the hallway as well?

They used to tie people to that chair and make them smell the dirty socks that came through the chute....

Abominable.

:P

Looks like somebody dumpd a couple gallons of lime kool-aid on the floor. Silly janitors Kool-aid is for drinking not cleaning.

So, Motts. You must do a lot of traveling. I've noticed you've taken pictures of these places from all over the place. Anyway, I was reading the discription on the main Henryton page, and it's strange; this hospital was a place for African American TB patients, but why was it run by the Mental Health Commission? Just wondering.

Yes, there were two playgrounds. One next to the children's hospital, for the children, with swings and see-saws. There was another, down the hill from there, near woods, but of course by 2009 it could have been hidden by trees, "edge". Back in the 1960's when I lived there it was out in the open, and fenced with a tall chain-link fence; no gate. It had see-saws, a swing set with three wooden-seated swings (one of which hit me in the head as a 5 year old and knocked me out!) and a slide. Near there were tennis courts used by the doctors, nurses, and families of employees who lived there. The apartment building closest to the courts was where we lived.

It used to be that people with TB were sent out to sanitoriums in the country. In some old photos of Byberry, you see some people out on porches in beds. These were people with TB, as they had to be kept away from the other patients. Also, they thought that fresh air would help cure TB.

I live in Charleston, SC, and an outskirt of Charleston is Summerville. It used to be a tiny little village, and there was a TB sanitorium there for a long time. Of course, nowadays, Summerville is a large town, and is no longer the country. The sanitorium was torn down a long time ago, before my mom was born.

Have you ever heard of the writer Dame Agatha Christie? She generally wrote mysteries, and one of her main characters was a man named Poirot. You remind me somewhat of him, Motts, as you both catch site of the smallest detail.

'I use my youth blood, to get through the night, coz I'm a vampire.
A vampire hurting for fun.'

;)

Soap dispenser holder.

My God.

Not only is it a clown.
But it's an ANGRY TUNNEL CLOWN!


That's the stuff of my nightmares, right there...

I can look at dead people, and deal with vomit and blood and people who stuff drugs up their arses... But clowns... No WAY.

They're not examination lights.

They're soap dispensers.

Well, at least I can tell people that I know about Braille now.... Not that I think they would care...

But thanks Blue Skyes :)

We're all numbers now though...


9308

Larry, in case you check back, you are correct the brickwork is fabulous. I grew up ON the Sanitarium grounds, leaving there in 1964 when my father got another job. All the buildings were brick, and one part that I remember very well were the covered walkways between some of the residences' buildings. The arches were gorgeous. I have long wished that the place would be renovated.