4,537 Comments for Pennhurst State School

nice building! BUT VERY FRIGHTENING! WOW!!

two words to describe this place "HAUNTED HOUSE" it has all of the stereotypical elements" a large elegant and imposing nature, and dead trees and tall grass! its almost like somebody designed it this way! LOL! this is VERY frightening! again reminds me of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World.

this looks like a haunted house set right out of a movie! WOW! VERY!!!!! frightening, it also reminds me of the Haunted Mansion at Disney World that creeps me out too! both are very elegant and imposing!

AGAIN there is a "ghost" in the picture! OMG I think this guy purposely does some kind of visual effect! there is some kind of ghost in every picture I swear! All of these picture on here look like pictures from a movie set, they are very dramatic and creepy beyond words, I think somebody should make a movie about this place, it sure as hell is creepy enough, and anyways they would already have the scenery for it!

I think Tim Burton would love this place, somehow I kind of see a "Tim Burton" flair in this picture! its very depressing. :(

its looks like a movie set for a haunted house! very dramatic. and yes, I see the face in the window, I think the guy who takes these pictures likes to do the "Where's Waldo" thing, only is his case he wants us to find "The Ghost Face" I swear there is some kind of face or ghostly person in every picture!

This is a nice picture, reminds me of a castle

This picture reminds me of The Haunted Mansion at Disney World. It looks very elegant but also very imposing at the same time! I don't think i could ever go to this place, I am a very emontionally sensitive person, so I don't think I could ever go here, I would sense the sadness of the people who were in this horrible place. I hope all of the residents who were in this place are finally at rest. :)

I work with two IDD (intellectual developmental difficulties) patients that were housed at Pennhurst, the one still has flashbacks and promises to be good if we wont shackel him. Our company NEVER uses resraints but he still remembers. They broke his feet there, they sodimized him and broke his spirit and he still pays with the flashbacks.

Thanks for the great set of photos Motts. I still have to look through the first set of Pennhurst pics. It takes sometime to go through all the sections on your site but I will get through them. I really have enjoyed reading everyone's posts in these threads. Esp those that worked at Pennhurst. I also saw the GA show & a couple other tv shows that had Pennhurst in it. Than I remembered that Motts had taken pics so it was great to be able to see more pics and stuff that wasn't talked about in these shows. Its very sad the way the patients were treated here and other places. I'm sure not everyone was treated horribly but those that were it is sad. Again thanks for everyones comments. It makes it much more interesting reading thats for sure!! And may all the souls from Pennhurst rest in peace.......

I really like this picture Motts....I love your lonely chair shots....its interesting to see that the couple of windows pictured don't appear to have any broken panes in them. Thats totally surprising really. Most of the windows are gone. Though they might be now since its been awhile since you took these pictures. It is interesting though. Great shot!!

danzamiami, please research before you make accusations such as this. that is a severe and extreme statement, and it is not true. or at least not wholly true. i have done extensive unbiased reseach on the history of pennhurst and have concluded that the nurses were doing the best they could with the situation presented. their dedication and love for the residents was evident. yes, their was abuse. but it was because of how many residents there were to how few nurses and staff. the most accurate ratio ive obtained was 48 residents to 3 staff. now imagine trying to teach, love, and form relationships with 48 residents that had severe disabilities. this is unreasonable and an unobtainable goal. it was a matter of controlling the residents and trying to prevent injuries/ harm. oftentimes when a resident became violent, muffs were necessary, to prevent them from hurting themselves, the nurses and the other clients on the ward. please understand that the nurses and staff were dealing with something that the public refused to acknowledge was there. who are we to judge these courageous, dedicated people?

I just wanted to thank everyone for there comments in these threads about Pennhurst. They are all interesting to read. Esp. from the people that used to work there. They are all enlightening and some of the things that have occured at Pennhurst & many others like it is truely as shame & disgrace. Maybe some people were worse off than others & maybe some should not have ever been put in these places but to not be treated like a person & just some animal is horrible. Now I'm not saying this is what happend here or other places but if they did it is sad.......if we do not learn from our mistakes we are doomed to repeat them......

Hey dude I was just up there today met the new owner.. how the hell did you manage to get the permission to get inside or did you? let me know.. my e-mail is forbidenstarr@aol.com.. wanna get a better look if you know what I'm sayin..thanks

I worked at Pennhurst in 1971, it was not a good place at all, residents were raped in the tunnel and abuse was high. I still see a few of the residents that have apartments and jobs occasionally.