|
|
|
|
Thank You Google!After finding an aerial shot of Anclote Manors, I decided to take a whirl at what I could find on Danvers, and voila, so here it is:
And if your a fan of Google earth (www.earth.google.com) you can use .KMZ files just double click on it and it will take you straight there, click on the link to download it.
In all of the abandoned asylums that I have looked into, none stand out as well as Danvers Castle on the hill. A pioneering endeavor, outrageously huge, and at first was a utopic environment for those dubbed "Mentally Ill" It is unfortunate that this distinction would not last for long. Its construction followed the genius of a man named Thomas Kirkbride. His idea of humanely treating the mentally ill in a humane and stress free environment. Each section of the hospital was given a ranking level, and patients were assigned rooms in areas according to their particular needs. The most severely disturbed and destructive patients were kept far away from those with comparatively milder and simpler "Neurosis" This of course proved to be less than economical, and more radical approaches were invented to "Help" the insane. Like electro shock therapy, hydro electric therapy, and the most famous and all time favorite, was the full frontal lobotomy. As stated elsewhere, "Treatment" of the insane became a disguised green light for human experimentation. Danvers maybe the most famous of all the lunatic asylums in North America, partly due to bone chilling headlines and court dramas, but mostly because of Hollywood. It was featured in fairly decent horror film titled "Session 9" (Click here for the IMDB link to the movie) with David Caruso. I enjoyed this movie, think it would have been more astounding had there been more characters involved, but that takes us far away from the discussion at hand. I would love to gain permission to explore Danvers, the architecture alone is amazing, let alone its reign of disturbing history. They want to level the building, which would be expensive. Here are three sites dedicated to Danvers, and they have already done a spectacular job in recording its history, so I will send you there way for this one. http://www.danvers-state-ia.com/ http://ramseursdanversstatehosp.com/ http://www.danversstateinsaneasylum.com/
|
