I Think We're Gonna Need A Priest

With over 50,00 deaths throughout its history, it’s no wonder that the Trans-Allegheny Asylum is haunted. I would like to say now that any derogatory words used in this post are what were used at the time and only used for historical significance. They are in no way what I would use. Anyway… on with the post. :) :) Construction began in 1858 and it was completed in 1881 but during this time patients were still admitted. The main building is the largest hand-cut stone masonry in the US and the second in the world, with the Kremlin coming in first. Originally construction was done by prison inmates – a local newspaper in the November that construction started noted “seven convict negroes” as the first to start working on the Asylum. In June 1861, the 7 th Ohio Infantry came to the town on behalf of the government and ‘stole’ $27,000 worth of gold coins (which is roughly $500,000 today). This money was to be used to build Trans-Allegheny but because of the Civil War the go...

Abandonment. Neglect. Abuse. Death. These are just some of the atrocities that happened at Pennhurst State School. In 1908 Pennhurst State school was built to house the children that society had dubbed as “demented’. Back then, if you were any sort of menace to society (like a pyromaniac for example) you ended up at Pennhurst. The school itself was built to house 500 patients but by 1913 it was already overcrowded and in need of more housing facilities. So in 1916, the Board of Trustees planned to build additional cottages to expand the capacity of the school. Built on over 600 acres, the site itself contains more than 30 buildings which included a hospital, a morgue, barbers and a firehouse. This impressive site became self-sustaining as it had its own power plant and the residents were sent to work on the farm that was located on site. The site also had a rail track passing through the grounds so any supplies they needed could be brought in by train. It also had an u...