3,485 Comments for Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)

this ic cool stof andlooks like the sealing is going to fall down in 1second.

My father worked in the OT unit...which used to be some sort of cafeteria or something? Not sure. Anyhow...he didn't really have an office, he worked in a nursing station cage at the end of the hallway. Because of the nature of his work, he was often working late hours at night...and he talked about how creepy it was even then. He's not one to believe in the paranormal, but he used to talk about all these feelings he'd get and the things he heard. For example, his "office" was at the end of a really long hallway. He heard footsteps coming up to him like mens shoes on tile. But when he turned around, the footsteps stopped, and no one was there. To this day, he still claims it wasn't a "haunting" per-se, but just the building playing tricks on his mind.

My mother, unfortunately, has passed on, so I can't relate any stories about her experiences. I know that she used to work in the minimum security womens building. When she was pregnant with my older brother, she took some of her patiences out for a walk. One of her patients apparently jumped on the railroad tracks (I think this was in a subway) trying to find the third rail and get electricuted. My mother claims she got into psychology because she always thought she might be crazy. After some of her patients, she reasurred herself that she was quite sane.

I'll try to get more info out of my father for you. I'm trying to get him to go down there with me one day. Maybe find his old office.

Coplan, your folks should tell us about some of their more "memorable" experiences working at PSH.

Had this pic on my desktop. My dad recognized the building and became obsessed with your site. He and my mother used to work there - met there in fact. He was an OT. Shared a lot of stories...but he is very nostalgic of your pictures and almost cried when he saw how bad a lot of the buildings were.

Looking at my friend Buck's pilfered Byberry blueprints, I discovered that there were never any tunnels going from the main complex to the E's. There was an 8-inch diameter steam pipe that went under the Roosevelt Blvd, but that was it.

Did they do the same thing to the tunnel leading to the E buildings as they did to the tunnel underneath southampton Rd.?

i agree its hell

Em, need a place to store them beers? ;-)

Refrigeration? Really? I'll have to check that out. I'd love some pics of that.

Maybe, but Byberry is across the street from the take-out beer store that's right in front of my apartment complex, a short three minute walk away.

the medicine room is very weird up in pennhurst theres about 15 trash bags filled with the same medicine bottles does anyone think they can get any money for them

thats pennhurst in spring city, pa thats by the beer place

Not all of the drop ceilings have fallen YET, a few of them, especially in W-5, are still intact.

http://www.phila.gov/ohnp/byberry.htm

That's a link to the development site. Enjoy!

demolition i believe is scheduled for january. does anyone know what developer purchased the land to build on? thanks - any info is greatly appreciated.