505 Comments for Dever State School

Ummm yeah Decay in Ruins....news flash.... I dont know who gave you the idea or told you that its legal to walk the grounds because they are arresting anyone who goes on the grounds its not legal and you will be arrested on the spot for tresspassing.....

smt your a freakin moron!!!! I take offense to your statement as Taunton is not filled with hookers unless your soliciting them yourself and its not filled with drug dealers and gangsta wannabes!!! My mother has lived there all her life and I go up there often and Taunton is no different than any other city in Mass or Rhode Island so keep you opinions to yourself unless your an expert or your one of those supposed hooker,drug dealers or gangsta wannabes..................

I worked in the Kitchen in the Summer for several years between 1979 and 1982. We made sauces and cooked vegetables in the kettles. We made the meals for the whole facility and some were fed in a cafe that was part of this building and the bedridden patients were fed in the buildings with delivery via a panel truck. The facilities were very clean and the food was of very good quality. It wasn't as bad a life as people think for the patients. They had gardens to tend and exercise facilities. Some of the patients were abandoned by families and this was the only real home and community they knew. When they were cut loose and sent into the community many were just plain lost souls at that point. My sisters also worked in the Laundry facility.

Moonlight,kid

I went to a place called camp bluebay in 2nd grade with my girlscout troop.the room we slept in looked exactly like this. High weird windows and all. I even remekber hanging my flashlight on the window crank (although this building seems a little old for window cranks) so weird. Warehousing people.

^^^malark, its legal to walk the grounds. that campus is sooooo easy

I hear the security is comepletely gone, and now ONLY state troopers or the local police patrol the grounds. I'm guessing this is due to all of the vandalism and junking going on inside. I have not gone inside the place since I heard this news, because I feel like the Staties would book you right away, as opposed to the cool security guys, who probably just tell you to leave and be cool about it :/

Thanks for the news updates smt!

for some reason abandoned buildings like this, to me are not ugly i think you should feel priveledged to be the first person to take photos and share them on here!!! thatd be so cool-id love to do that-and the place has such history.

I found another article this one written by a local paper.
http://www.tauntongaze...finalized-in-Taunton

They sold the land to the school on 12/22/11. I believe they are putting in a sciece center of some sort. For all those interested here's the info that is avail.
http://www.mass.gov/an...l-redevelopment.html

I wouldn't go in there now if you PAID me! Taunton now is filled with hookers, drug dealers and wanna be gangstas. Really sad it was a great place to grow up. Now if you went in there you'd most likely encounter a tweeker ready to knife you.

OMG, except for Lynne and a very few others, you haven't a clue as to what went on there!!! So please, for the sake of all others that don't know the Paul A. Dever State School, don't comment! Not only are you SO extremely ignorant of the place, but it makes you sound stupid! The age group for all the children there was from birth to death. We called them children because they were all born mentally retarded, and acted as children. they had the mental capacity of a child between the ages of birth to probably 12 if they were lucky! some didn't talk or walk or see or hear. Some were immobile and others completely paralyzed. Hence the shower rooms!! Privacy wasn't an option, but the children appreciated the help because they couldn't do everyday tasks by themselves. They had to be washed, clothed, hair combed, some had to be fed by hand or tube feed. If you have ever seen a mentally handicapped person, think of what it would be like to do just the simplest things. Some were lowered my mechanical lifts into tubs, in and out of bed, lifted by hand into wheelchairs.

But these children were cared for by attendants, physical therapists, nurses and doctors. Some of the children were bedridden and others were like little kids enjoying living with others like them. There were all kinds of activities for them, the playground , and there was more than one, was filled with all the playground equipment you would see in any other playground, they went for walks, picnics, swimming, had sports and all the things kids do for fun right there on the grounds. They also walked or took public transportation into the center of the city to shop or get an ice cream or whatever they wanted on a Saturday afternoon. All was under the attention of an attendant. Today these children are older and in group homes. Some were also let out on pass to go out with their families or with people who worked there. They went to the movies, out to eat or to Christmas dinner.

There were also those who were in the hospital part of the school, like the babies or those who needed continuous nursing care. But know this,, they e cared for, had all they needed , and we're loved!

My Grandmother was an attendant and then a nurse at the school. She worked with all the babies. These babies needed 24/7 care, these babies weren't like normal healthy babies, and she always spoke about how much she loved these babies. Paul A Dever was suppose to be a good place to work we were told, if you could take working there. It isn't easy to work where you see these kinds of health issues, it can be heart breaking. So please, think before you comment....btw, these buildings weren't military buildings!!!

I live under an hour from this place. Maybe i'll take a ride down there sometime

took a trip up to this spot recently, and began making a map of the tunnels. does anyone know which building is the hospital ect. i know the dorms, and i found the commons, but the rest is still a mystery to me