4,537 Comments for Pennhurst State School

my great-grandmother gave birth to my great-aunt and great-uncle, twins. later, she found out my great-uncle eugene was mentally handicapped. retarded. the doctors said that she should send him away and forget about him. luckily, she didn't. she raised him on the family farm. i don't have many memories of him. just a couple. we spent time when i was young coloring and painting together. he died at home, in his sleep in the late 80's.

today, he simply would be labeled as slow or delayed. i don't know how to describe how i feel looking at these photos and think that he could have lived his life at a place like this, not knowing what a real family would have been like. i'm glad my great-grandma stood up for what was truly like. and at the same time, i feel sad for the children who didn't have that chance.

I just need to second what Larry D said, I miss Lynne too! I have loved reading her comments! I don't suppose anyone knows where she is...

@ Andrew: Yes, these lights are very common. We had one just like this in the old Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Dispensary. The facility is closed but the light works just fine to this day.

The light is fantastic but that old medical cabinet against the wall has my attention.

The algae in the porcelain is beautiful. This is exactly what I've been preaching about. Nature is the best artist when left alone.

I've said this before: God, I miss Lynne!!

Love the old intercom next to the door. Ya know, after looking at numerous galleries I'm convinced that bomb shelters should be made of ceramic tiles instead of concrete. That stuff lasts forever & keeps a nice shine to boot.

Looks like something in a Frankenstein Movie.

I'm pleased that a string begun way back in 2005 still elicits such strong emotions. We who appreciate the history, the beauty, the mystery, and the stories of these facilities, get pretty emotional when someone defiles this with mindless thief & vandalism. In my opinion, if you must visit these places, do so to quietly reflect on all the people (patients & care givers) who passed through these halls over the decades. True human emotions & dramas were played out here everyday. Good & bad.

Yes, I see him kneeling next to a tripod. Who dat Motts?

God, I miss Lynne. =8'-(

Wow. This gallery spawned a lot of wonderful comments, debates, conversations, and observations. Only Opacity has the power to stir emotions like this.

It's so fascinating to see abandoned man-made objects transform into something else simply at the whim of nature. It's so beautiful. But it takes a talented genius who can notice, pause, look, & capture the details most people never take time to see. Such as this bed spring or the rusting innards of a piano, or empty & rusted coat hangers. Thanks for all you do.

Lynn,

You also have to worry about aspiration pneumonia and all the other joys that can come with working in facilities like this. I have been in mental health for a while now and work in an out patient medical facility that serves under served populations so I don't have as many issues as you describe, but when I was doing my undergrad studies, I can remember working at a very well reputed nursing home for d.d. populations. Many times as an intern I was the only one there because they didn't have to pay me (ahh the joys of being young and foolish). We had a patient revolt at about 12:30 pm one night and there was always the risk of patients getting outside and freezing (many facilities have doors that lock behind you) and problems with people just plain not knowing where they were or needed to go if they get out of the place. A lot of places will have staff there for the overnight who are "sleeping staff", meaning they are mostly there for the emergency needs if the patients at the facility are fairly "high functioning". The facility I interned at was near a state college and a lot of the staff (including myself) were hired from the school. I can't tell you how many times I can remember people I was working with being under the influence on over night shifts. Often this was tolerated to some extent as the pay was low, the skills needed minimal most of the time, and the number of emergencies fairly low. In other words they were often just paying for a warm body to cover them legally should something happen or to take blame if something went wrong. After I left I know of at least 2 deaths due to issues with staffing. A lot of it is because with deinstitutionalization many of these facilities no longer have the medical facilities on site and the communities hospitals have had to pick up the slack (often farther away and not having doctors that have the experience with the patients.)

After viewing the video of the pus-suckers who turned this place into a "haunted house" attraction, I am appalled. WTF are these idiots doing turning a place with this history into a God Damn Disney World? Such disrespect for those who lived & worked here. Why don't they organize a fun dive into the USS Arizona? Geez!