AbandonedAmerica.us
my downward spiral
construction on algonquin river state hospital began in 1868, and the first patients were admitted in 1871. when funding was exhausted and construction finally stopped in 1871, algonquin river state hospital was unparalleled in scale and opulence. there was great controversy at the time about how over budget and schedule it was, but the final product was nothing short of spectacular: stained glass windows abounded, ornamental wood and stone carvings adorned door frames, and everywhere one looked the breathtaking high victorian architecture and immaculate grounds provided another awe-inspiring vista. at its peak in the 1940s and 1950s over 6,000 people were treated here.
now it is unrivalled in the sheer scope of its devastation; as the demand for inpatient hospitalization declined with the introduction of psychotropic drugs and community based treatment, algonquin river was shut down in stages, starting with the male and female wings in the 1970s and culminating with the administration section in 2001. algonquin river has suffered more dramatically from the elements than any other state hospital due in part to the expensive yellow pine floors' deterioration, and after a massive fire (and the resulting effort to extinguish it) gutted its wings in 2007 what remains is one of the most hauntingly epic and terrifyingly dangerous buildings in existence.
more pictures online on my website at: www.abandonedamerica.us/portfolio159696.html
my downward spiral
construction on algonquin river state hospital began in 1868, and the first patients were admitted in 1871. when funding was exhausted and construction finally stopped in 1871, algonquin river state hospital was unparalleled in scale and opulence. there was great controversy at the time about how over budget and schedule it was, but the final product was nothing short of spectacular: stained glass windows abounded, ornamental wood and stone carvings adorned door frames, and everywhere one looked the breathtaking high victorian architecture and immaculate grounds provided another awe-inspiring vista. at its peak in the 1940s and 1950s over 6,000 people were treated here.
now it is unrivalled in the sheer scope of its devastation; as the demand for inpatient hospitalization declined with the introduction of psychotropic drugs and community based treatment, algonquin river was shut down in stages, starting with the male and female wings in the 1970s and culminating with the administration section in 2001. algonquin river has suffered more dramatically from the elements than any other state hospital due in part to the expensive yellow pine floors' deterioration, and after a massive fire (and the resulting effort to extinguish it) gutted its wings in 2007 what remains is one of the most hauntingly epic and terrifyingly dangerous buildings in existence.
more pictures online on my website at: www.abandonedamerica.us/portfolio159696.html