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.)
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.
The original Henryton Center building, built in 1923.
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A map showing the placement of the buildings as they were in 1953, when Henryton was still operating as a tuberculosis sanatorium for African Americans.
When the complex was converted to an institution for retarded adults, Building 3 was converted to the administration building. The large hospital building in the exterior and interior photographs is Building 2, on the east side of the complex.
The swimming pool is between Building 2A/B and the physicians' and nurses' cottage.
When the complex was converted to an institution for retarded adults, Building 3 was converted to the administration building. The large hospital building in the exterior and interior photographs is Building 2, on the east side of the complex.
The swimming pool is between Building 2A/B and the physicians' and nurses' cottage.
The building in the background with the dormer windows is the "new" administration building. The white building with the pitched roof directly across from the administration building is the back of the old main building seen in the first photo. The flat-roofed building at right is a wing of the east main hospital building. The kitchen is at the rear of the building on the left.
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The large hospital buiding on the east side.
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Corridor leading toward the front of the east main hospital bujilding on the first floor. The first-floor windows of all the buildings were boarded up when the complex closed; it's very dark in the areas where the boards have not been broken by vandals.
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The same corridor as above, but with flash.
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The post office room, complete with USPS logo on the door. The walls throughout the complex are painted in very bright turquoise, pink, yellow and green.
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Mailboxes.
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The east hospital building laundry.
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After being washed, the clothes were taken to the "clothes closet" room and placed on shelves for the patients to retrieve them.
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