History Sub-Categories

Old Things

1 gallery with 7 photos.

Updated: Jul 20, 2008 9:14pm PST

Exhibits

1 gallery with 15 photos.

Updated: Jun 15, 2004 4:32pm PST

Blandair Farm

2 galleries with 81 photos.

Updated: Apr 24, 2004 10:01am PST

History Galleries

Henryton Center : In 1923, Henryton State Hospital was built in a rural area of Maryland for the care of African-American tuberculosis patients. The abandoned complex is now surrounded by a remote area of the Patapsco Valley State Park. With the development of drugs for TB in the middle of the 20th century, sanatoriums like this were closed, and most were converted to other uses. Henryton was transferred to the Department of Mental Hygiene in 1963 and began to operate a training and habilitation program for severely and profoundly retarded ambulatory adults. The original hospital was a single building, but during the 1960's additional structures were added. Eventually there were 18 buildings in the complex. The facility was closed in 1985, and has been vacant ever since. It is on 52 acres of beautiful woods, and state has tried to sell the property several times. But the buildings are full of asbestos in the floor tiles, ceiling tiles, and insulation in walls and around pipes, so razing or renovating the buildings would be prohibitively expensive. The state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had been maintaining the property at a cost of $100,000 a year, but due to budget cuts the expensive security efforts were ended in 2001. By now the complex has been extensively vandalized, and the DHMH property report states that vandals "are gradually destroying what remains of the buildings." As if to prove that statement, in December 2007 a fire of undetermined origin engulfed the auditorium section of the hospital building. Although there had been many small fires at the complex, this one was by far the largest, requiring 80 firefighters from three counties to put it out. The auditorium and cafeteria have since been demolished. (Click on any photo to see a larger version.)

Henryton Center

In 1923, Henryton State Hospital was built in a rural area of Maryland ...

Updated: Apr 22, 2007 9:59pm PST

Historic Ellicott City

Updated: Nov 05, 2006 4:09pm PST