1,382 Comments for Dixmont State Hospital

I haven't seen as many as I thought I would, perhaps they aren't as common in New England. This place was full of them though: http://www.opacity.us/...r_state_hospital.htm

I am curious, are there no any mold spores in these old buildings? Are do these things even get into these builidngs. I know a family that had to move and have some kind of bathing treatment because of these mold spores.

Y'all excuse how I write, my word structure and spelling, as I am profound deaf. However, where I live, deep in the southwest of Georgia, we have bats that would inhabit old adandoned buildings, and wondering if maybe Motts or any other have ever ran up on bats hanging from the ceilings. Just wondering. That pile of stiff in middle of floor looks lik bat droppings.

yah awsome picture ...to bad that great peice of history is torn down...would have loved to see it myself

And now they're just so much rubble. 'tis a shame, eh?

I fancy the woman with the bleeding eyes and the man with the devil horns.They're interesting characters...

Thanks, weasel.

I think it is going to stay. It is hard to explain this, but that particular building is not right where the Kirk and the others were. It is at the end of the road before the hosp entrance was. Hmm.. how can I explain it? Like, picture a cul-de-sac before a driveway, and the position of the Cammarata Bldg. is at the end of the road, off to the right but BEFORE the driveway which leads to the construction site. So, technically, it is not even being involved in the whole thing. I guess it COULD change, but the last time I drove up there, that is how it was. There are residential houses on that road leading up to the driveway as well, so you can imagine how pissed these people are about how close the wal-mart will be. I know a family who live a few blocks away from the site.

Bob and weasel. I worked at the Verland Foundation off Mt. Nebo for a couple of years. Is the Cammaratta building going to stay, or is Wal Mart going to have it bulldozed, too?

Thank you so much for your comments, Bob. I love hearing stories like these from those who were somehow involved or connected to the hospital history. I think I have seen your comments before on another Dixmont site somewhere. Keep em' coming.

By the way...the only building still in current usage which was a part of the Dixmont property is the Cammarata Building http://www.dixmontstat....com/Cammaratta.html which now houses a Glen Montessouri School and ironically, the Verland Institute which provides services for the mentally retarded. This building is on the very edge of the property, right next to the site of the old gatehouse which burned down recently. It is just a boring old 50's style plain brick structure.

Construction of the Hutcheson building was originally started about 100 yards west from where it is today. It's named after the past superintendent. After the foundation was completed and the steel work had a good start the whole building slid down the hill as an old abandoned sewer had been blocked by the new foundation. Much to my fathers dismay, the building site was paved over and the construction was started anew very near to our house. It was an early lesson to me about NIMBY. I can still hear the screams that came through my bedroom window on hot summer nights.
The Hutcheson building was where shock therapy and lobotomies were done. Those practices never sat well with me as I was growing up and I distanced myself even more from the subterfuge behind those walls. I never really trusted or befriended any patients although I knew plenty of them. There was always that uncertainty.
When the Hutcheson building was being built I made a lot of pin money buying pop at the canteen and selling it to the construction people at about 100% profit. Richard Goubeaud sold them groundhogs he shot on the hill. He got 50 cents for them. He and his mother made and bottled root beer all summer to sell on the job site to buy her dentures.
There was a big black man who was his best customer. He worked alone and cleaned up around the nearly completed building site at night and my sister and I used to listen to his jokes and funny stories. He was the first black adult I ever knew and he fascinated Nancy and I many nights in the summer of 51. I remember following him to the streetcar loop in Emsworth one time and ratting on him as a joke for bringing a dead groundhog on the trolley. The conductor thought that was funny as heck when our friend then offered to pay an extra fare for that shopping bag that held his dinner.
But a practical joke got out of hand when his construction boss asked him to clean up around the new, but not yet commissioned morgue in the basement. He had fixed up a mannequin with a big bandage on its head doused with mercurochrome. Then he put it on a stainless steel draw out tray in the morgue refrigerator. Our friend dropped dead when he pulled out the tray. I never learned his name.
Bob Cammarata, son of Dr. J.A. Cammarata and resident of the Gate House that burned down 11/23/05

P.S. YES PATIENTS DIED AND WERE ACTUALLY BURIED ON THE PROPERTY

S A STUDENT NURSE AT DIXMONT IN 1972,I HAVE SO MANY MEMORIES OF THE PLACE. ITS ASHAMED IT WASN'T TAKEN OVER BY THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY EARLY. SO SAD TO SEE SUCH A PART OF HISTORY FALL TO SUCH RUIN.

Wayne-o, i think you're right.

Damn...that sucks