3,485 Comments for Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)

Woah that's creepy.

They got some ideas for silent hill from Byberry

That door is the freekiest thing i've ever seen

It's a carrier bag, isn't it?

Those chairs are very familiar. They still use them to this day in the psychiatric ward I work in and ones I have visited for workshops. Radical Ed is right. It's just a recliner. The wheels on the bottom can be used to move patients that are elderly and immobile.

Hey Radical Ed,
Like you I spent many many hours crawling through the corridors and tunnels of Byberry, I mostly explored the old side, across the Blvd. We played back there as kids in the very early 70's. It's cool to see you have kept the place alive with your photo's bro. I recently did a bulletin on myspace on Byberry and that's how I learned of you, in doing the research for images I found yours. Would love to get together sometime and hear more stories about the place. Byberry never gets old for me.

Good work bro, and fuck anyone who doesn't get it or think they know something they don't...

Reach me here if you get this note...
You may have to copy n paste it, not sure...
Best to reach me at myspace...
http://www.myspace.com/spiritwulfmedicine

Or second best at facebook...
http://www.facebook.co...le&id=1632127347

Last is e-mail...
spiritwulf1@yahoo.com

Peace bro, again, good work.

The architecture.......it was never meant for this.

Explanation?: The patients organized in the basement where they held a stencil-painting party.

Makes me wanna climb them. That's alot of steps. Can you imagine being the had to climb them all the time?

If I wasn't such a skeptic, I would think this the perfect place to run onto something

Too bad the auditorium didn't stand on its own. Would be interested to renovate and make use of

Absolutely thrilling. I wanna run along the grounds and investigate every nook and cranny!

Hard to believe this place was once sterile

I was a psychiatric nurse in another institution here in Pennsylvania, during the 1980's to the late 90's. I had many other nurse friends that were transferred from Philadelphia State Hospital and came to work with me. The stories many would tell of the poor working conditions were astounding. No one who works in a State run facility sees the best of humanity. In the late 1940's to 195's the only drug heavily used was Thorazine. It was given in massive doses and was the only drug available for Schizophrenics. Many had severe brain damage and were like zombies. They needed almost complete care. The Govenors that held power in this state did not care about the mentally ill, often selling off large parcels of property around them for thier own gain. Our legislators, (elected) cared about thier own pockets and that is why our institutions suffered.

Why try to resurrect something that has been destroyed by vandals, looters and thugs? If you wanted to save it so badly, contribute to a campaign to restore and save it - not trash the place.