Danvers State Asylum: Mental Institution Turned Apartment Building

An illustration of the sprawling
hospital from "King's Hand-book
of the United States."

The winner for most breathtaking haunted location in New England, for me, goes to Danvers State Asylum. Granted, there isn't much left of the once castle-like asylum on a hill. However, what remains still evokes some of the same grandeur that the lauded hospital captured. For such a grand old place, there aren't a lot of ghost stories associated with Danvers State Asylum, but that might just be because it was hard for hunters to get in, not that there was nothing to see.

In the second half of the 19th century, eastern Massachusetts needed a solution for overcrowded mental hospitals. One had closed in Boston, and it was time to pick up the slack. At the time, residential treatment was the go-to for mental ailments, so beds filled up fast. A new asylum was proposed and architect Nathaniel Jeremiah Bradlee was put to the task. He designed the building in his Domestic Gothic style out of brick, stone and granite. It had imposing towers, several wings. It opened its doors with enough space for more than 1,000 patients in 1878. Later, additional buildings were added and the max capacity rose to 2,600 patients.

It is likely that some treatments occurred in Danvers State Asylum that would shock us today. However, by the standards of the time and even by some of today's standards, this hospital was quite humane. It was one of the Kirkbride Hospitals, which believed the tenets of the Kirkbride Plan, a view that patients were curable and that compassionate treatment and picturesque surroundings were critical to their recovery. Danvers State Hospital prided itself on the hygiene of its facilities and the advanced, gentle treatments of the time, which included hydrotherapy and good old fresh air.

Mental health care reform changed everything for Danvers State Asylum, which closed in the 70s. The focus leaned away from institutionalizing patients and toward outpatient care. It rendered establishments like the one in Danvers obsolete. Sadly, the absolutely conservable site was sold off to a real estate developer and turned into an apartment complex called Halstead Danvers. Some of the original building remains on the once nearly 200-acre property, so it is recognizable. It's just impossible to see it in its original state now or ghost hunt, though the latter was nearly impossible anyway. Today, if you want to see what spooks roamed the halls of this impressive building, you'll have to rent a sterile modern apartment.

I've only found two instances of a reported haunting at Danvers State Asylum. The first I came across was a ghost that haunted the attic and steeple. Another interesting legend about the steeple is that of a German spy who worked at the hospital using the steeple to signal enemy submarines. The only other story I came across was of an old lady ghost pulling the blankets off a young girl who lived in the hospital. If you have any ghost stories from Danvers State Asylum, please share them in the comments section below.

Here is a fabulous source for photos of the structures.