4,081 Comments for Norwich State Hospital

wrote:
the strangest thing about this shot to my mind is the fact that the urinal appears to have a kneeler in front of it... much like the ones you see in front of the little religious shrines in Catholic Churches! Gives new meaning to "bowing before the porcelain god".
wrote:
The hospital closed in 1996, but this building could've been closed much earlier... it's difficult to find such specific information.
wrote:
This place closed in 96'??!!
wrote:
I'm a ghost hunter, and the first tinme that I have seen these images is today. There was a lot of abuse within these walls. Please don't take kindly to it. I have a real bad feeling about this place in whole. Thank you
wrote:
I dunno... I've worked with the mentally ill as well... seems to me that compassion, not rudeness, is behind the comments that this place looks more like a zoo than a place for human beings.
wrote:
With "Hall-dol" and "Thora-screen," of course.
wrote:
An autoclave type one WOULD need to be sealed. I was told that in the old days they just squirted them with steam and/or sprayed them with heavy amounts of disinfectant, then heated them to dry them out. They used to have to clean and re-use mattresses in hospitals before modern equipment came along, and the collection of buildings at this place runs the gamut in age. However, as I said, I am still not sure this was for mattress cleaning after all. Do you remember what the dimensions were?
wrote:
Yeah, Twug,
I didn't have that whole "OMG, it was the creepiest shit I ever saw in my whole entire life" vibe, I just threw out that funny comment like we did in the old days.
wrote:
That's the prettiest Insane Hospital I have ever seen. How does one treat a hospital, I wonder.
wrote:
OMG, Grifs, I thought the exact same thing, but I didn't put it into words for fear I would raise some eyebrows. Thanks, dude!
wrote:
Wouldn't an autoclave-type machine need to have an air or water tight seal?

Someone identified a mattress cleaner that looked a bit different: http://www.opacity.us/image1621.htm
wrote:
Screw Utopia, I hate that fat piece of Crap Joseph Gentile, hes just scum to this earth. They should put sumthing more practical there and recondition the hospital and ptu it to good use. Hes related to the Mob and hes also tried putting his shit amusememnt park from New York, New Jersey and he also tried putting the damn thing in THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC! for christ sake hes pathetic...
wrote:
It's probably plaster that crumbled. These are amazing.
wrote:
Well, I have to admit, I have been wondering more and more about these devices and I asked for information about them tonight from a fellow who has lived where I work since 1929 (hard to believe, isn't it?) and he wasn't familiar with them at all. He worked the farm and the kitchen, though - never the laundry. He said they are definitely not incubators and definitely not ovens, however. When I told him that someone suggested they put people in them for cremation, he was quite insulted and wondered "what's wrong with people to think something as awful as that?" 8`-)

The mattress steamers I have seen before look like these and they used the vents to blow scalding hot steam across the mattresses. However, I have to shamefacedly admit that the more I look at these the less they look like the ones I saw all those years back. I have one more place to go to check these out, and that is the laundry at work. Some of the folks who work there have been there 35+ years, and if anyone can give a positive ID on these, they can do it.

Sorry, Bill - I'll let you know what I can find out - it might still be right, but it might be wrong.

P.S. Here is a reference about "mattress sterilizer buildings" from a 1918 article:
http://www.oldhickorychamber.org/oldhickory.htm
wrote:
Donna and weasel,

People blow me away with stories like these. Keep them coming. There are so many sides - anyone who thinks they have the answer, especially someone like me, is bound to be wrong much of the time. The only way to know is to continue to learn from people who have walked the walk.

Thank you for your stories - they are difficult to read and must have been very difficult to live.