3,485 Comments for Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)

A few of us who've been doing it for a while seem to get quieter and quieter... the rampant destruction of a few historic buildings and super increased security are all factors contributing to why.

I respect someone asking to keep a place quiet; I wouldn't tell my own girlfriend, much less my friends, it's just a scummy thing to do. More often than not, info is traded, sometimes freely given to close friends. I give fellow people a heads-up if I know something, like "They're doing construction in building 136," if they are headed there.

I don't mind showing a cool person who's never done this a neat place or two if I have the time, but I don't like the idea of holding someone's hand at every location thereafter... if you can't face something alone, you probably shouldn't be in these places.

Not asking for any trade secrets since I'm not brave enough (or close enough) to explore these places, but do some of you who know each other from exploring the same places swap stories and locations of interesting things, or do you keep your exciting finds a closely held secret and let each other find stuff independently?

i see the "shadow" stencil its pretty cool

Email me at radical_ed@yahoo.com for that pic Ed! I can either have it in the body of the return email or send it as an attachment. Make sure you include Marshall or Byberry in the header. I dump unknown emails.

If you wander around in the place for twelve-plus hours a week for years, you wander into stuff like this eventually. There's almost two dozen buildings in the PSH complex.

i saw a picture of this when byberry was open, and it's crazy how much it changed

where do you find this kinda stuff?

they are some fun steps... lol

Radical Ed, I'd love to see a pic of the Marshall logo if you got one.- Ed from Oregon

As messed -up as this place is, this machine is pretty intact.

Asbestos or not, i'd love every minute exploring these places with you guys!! (were all gonna die of cancer anyway)

Man I can't say enough times. Thank You for these photos! I'm only 28 now but my friends and I before we were invited to pro-circuit paintball used to jam some serious ball within these walls. Looking at all these photos, bring back MANY memories of good times! Thank you again for this gallery!

You had to be a PRO back in the day... 20 minute reels (of flammable nitrate film, until the 70's), loading and lighting the carbon rod, adjusting the span, listening for the 1-minute signal bell as a reel span faster (indicating a changeover was coming up), readying the other project (which had better be laced-up with film and perfectly timed on its countdown leader), watching for the 10-second marker (a black spot that flashes in the upper right corner of the picture) to power-up the drive motor, ensure the pickup reel doesn't let up too much slack and shutdown the show via a failsafe, wait for the second black spot to flash and kick the changeover pedal to seemlessly transition to the other projector without the audience even noticing a thing. Go rewind, ready the next reel, relax for a few minutes, get ready to do it all again! These guys had a strong union until the mid-80's and got paid well.

I have one of those Knife switches on the back of those lamphose pedistals.

yep, with carbon arc lamphouses