1,944 Comments for Worcester State Hospital

MamaToFive, why did you have to mention Domino's....now I"m hungry and want pizza. :-)

I had to go back for a second look and saw the face immediately - I agree fatepeace, it does look like an owl's face.

Back in my college days (60s), I worked as a pyrometer tech in a steel mill. These were still in use back then on some of the older lines. Most had 25 Hz AC drive motors, although there were a few clockwork-driven ones. Used as controllers on various furnaces. Pretty amazing that something with no electronics could take the signal from a thermocouple and control a big gas valve or damper.

Thanks Cathy! I haven't seen shower stalls like this one in Worcester, so I'm hoping this wasn't the "norm." Also I must note, upon discovering Herbert Gehr's photos for LIFE magazine ( http://opacity.us/site...htm#historic|tests_1 ) and the remnants of scientific devices I found in this basement, it seems possible to infer that various experiments were being performed down here. Who then can really say what these stalls were intended for...

I first would like to thank you Mott for the history, photos & risking yourself while obtaining these images. I find your website fascinating & educational. I just found your site recently so I am quite delayed on my response. However with that being said the sad truth is theses showers did operate as you feared. Thankfully there are laws in place to protect these people today. I grew up living in the same stat as Danvers State Hospital & actually worked with clients who lived beneath the hill. Kudos to you for getting into the hospital. I along with many friends tried for years but never successful. I assume initially the showers were made this way to save time and money however with anything that starts with good intentions end up being used in sick twisted ways. However time has changed laws are better at protecting people but with anything there are the people who don't follow the laws that protect the innocent. Group homes are better but, depending upon the state and how well that state works to protect the institution or home, depends. Thank you again for your work.
Cathy

This doorknob reminds me of the one in Alice in Wonderland!

I worked here for a few years back in the 1970's. Loved everyone of the residents. Some spent entire lifetimes behind locked doors. We had a great team of dedicated professionals and a few like me that took them out for warm sunshine and cool spring breeze. I can still see their lovely faces remember most of their names and hear their now silent voices.

I hate to see so much detail and workmanship go to waste. You won't find work like this ever again.

Was that fixture once covered? With glass maybe?

Great shot! How beautiful.

Why??

I spent time on Phillips 3&4, and Washburn in fall 1971. I could never understand why I was sent here to rehabilitate from heroin addiction. I have recovered and never forgot the horrors or the people along the way. America "how could you?"

Interesting, thanks John. I've seen an electroshock setup with an EEG machine to record the data.

It seemed related to the other precision measuring instruments of similar vintage, to which the Herbert Gehr photos from LIFE magazine seem to correlate with (circa 1949); perhaps there is the connection.

I used to work for Leeds and Northrup (1973-1978). I worked on MicroMax recorders, although they were obsolete by then. L&N patented the first null-balance recording galvanometer, which is what the MicroMax is (or was). A galvanometer is an instrument for measuring minute electric currents, and the MicroMax was invented to give a paper chart record of this current over time. The ones I worked on were used for measuring temperature via a thermocouple, though the instrument could be used for measuring any small current. I can't tell from the picture what the scale readings are, so I can't guess at what the instrument was used for. The recording is very slow, so very fast changes like EEG signals wouldn't record. But with divider networks, I guess the machine could have been used to keep a record of electroshock voltages.

Pitch Black
Can´t believe how you dare just walk around there.
It looks so clean and swept.
Timeless