Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

West Virginia · United States · Sanatorium

Mental hospital operating 1864-1994 — today a museum offering tours, the location of "Paranormal Lockdown".

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, West Virginia received patients from 1864 until 1994. Construction began in 1858 and was not completed until 1881, designed according to the so-called Kirkbride Plan by the architect Richard Snowden Andrews.

The vast building was originally intended to house no more than 250 people. By the 1950s, however, it held ten times that number, and the quality of care collapsed. Patients were subjected to insulin shock, electroshock, hydrotherapy and lobotomies; in the early 1950s Weston State Hospital became home to the West Virginia Lobotomy Project, an attempt to reduce the severe overcrowding through lobotomy.

The lack of care and sanitation, combined with the enormous overcrowding, led to a great many deaths. No official figure exists, but estimates suggest the death toll may have reached or exceeded five figures — an unfathomable measure of suffering within these walls.

Since its closure the asylum has been counted among the most haunted places in the United States. Visitors and paranormal teams describe disembodied voices, footsteps, shadow figures and the sensation of being touched in the empty wards. Since 2007 a festival has been held every autumn with historical tours, paranormal night walks and competitions inside the colossal, crumbling building — one of the country's most imposing and ominous monuments to the dark history of psychiatric care.

Sources: English Wikipedia "Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum", Legends of America, usghostadventures.com, allthatsinteresting.com

FAQ

Where is Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum located?

Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is in West Virginia, United States.

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Accounts are drawn from local folklore and visitor reports.

Image: Wikipedia: Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (CC BY-SA 2.5)