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When I was a adolescent I spent time in a program run by the state of Massachusetts in Taunton at the Taunton State Hospital in 1998. The history there was rich and even mentioning the fact I had to live in a building on those grounds would cause for people to start a series of conversations about the haunting to be said to take place there.
Taunton State Hospital, also known as Taunton Secure, located in the Bristol County, was originally a farm land of one hundred and fifty-four acres built and established in 1853. The hospitals commission was to "render it a spot fitted to interest and tranquilize the minds of those who need as well the soothing influences of external nature as the healing remedies of art." At the completion of the hospital, the total costs of construction was $151,742.48. The buildings were constructed in the Georgian style and to this day are still a fine example of classical architecture. The man who was in charge of the construction of the building architect was Elbridge Boyden, who is known to have been the most prominent New England architect of the mid-19th century, whose most famous works were Mechanics Hall and Holy Cross College, which still stand in their respective places in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is also said that the main building was designed by Thomas Kirkbridge, who at the time was the leading architecture of hospitals in New England and had a building named after him.
The buildings were given all the most modern conveniences of the early to mid 19th century, including central heating with central ventilation's, running water and a sewer for it's inhabitants to name a few. The buildings included chapels, kitchens, a bakery, laundry and dining rooms, private apartments to house the staff that included private wash rooms, parlors, open aired verandas and some even housed attaching patient rooms. Most patients were located in dormitories while some, who the staff held separate concerns for, had their own private rooms. The facility was set over a farm land stretching acres and still to this day, a plow as well as a green house can still be seen sitting off to the side of the hospital. I have been to the green house and on one side of it the plants don't ever seem to grow. There is also a large corn field in front of the Goss Building. It has been said that at times, if you stand quietly in the corn field you can still hear the screams of patients long gone.
When I was in the program there, I was living in what is referred to as the Goss Building. I was located on the third floor (Goss 3). I remember waking up in the middle of the night to hearing faint screaming, crying, and the occasional whisper. There have been sightings from the staff and doctors who still work there that have seen a man in white walking the halls of the third floor who disappeared into the concrete walls when approached or called out to. Also, there is a corner room at the front of the building (third floor) that gives everyone a "creepy" feeling. That room is what they used as a living room when I was there and at a time we were restricted from using it due to anything electronic being used in there to either malfunction or stop working at times. There was even an electrical fire that happened and the fire department was unable to determine what caused it, since the walls were all brick and cement they couldn't say what caused it.
The Kirkbridge Building was abandoned in 1975 while 24 years later the dome over the buildings administrative center collapsed. In 2006, a fire broke out in the central section of the building. Though the administrative section was completely gutted and does not stand there anymore, the wings are all still intact. It now is home to juvenile offenders that have been convicted, as well as youth with mental health concerns, and a history of violent behavior.
After all buildings were constructed a series of horrific events took place that were, more often than not, overlooked. Taunton State Hospital had slowly begun turning into one of the cruelest hospitals, or more commonly referred to as concentration camps, for the mentally retarded and insane that ultimately ended in murder or suicide. In 1854, no more then three years after the facility was completed, the killings and torture began. Taunton State was said to have been a facility in which the insane was cured due to the serene surroundings and sympathetic nature of the staff and doctors. It was then, when the doors closed, an entirely different story unfolded. On the far east of the facility (Now a juvenile hall which is on the first floor of the Goss Building), is where the shock treatment and blood bath experiments had taken place. This area as never been re-done and only added onto for the detention of juveniles who were convicted of crimes. Even now, there it stands, a run down facility where the screams of the insane are said to still be heard. On the front part of one building there is an area of 1 foot standing space surrounded by metal bars and a chained fence, almost as if it were a human cage, was where the insane would be left in to sleep those nights in, right after their nine pm ice water shock baths. If the insane did not die by morning, they were then taken to the other part of the building (Which is no more then 1 foot away but still connected by wings) and brutally tortured. It was in this building that the limbs of the insane would be sawed off with old hand made saws and attached to another person, so the doctors could see if they could still be used and function correctly on another human being. Some inmates were boiled to death to see how long the human body could survive in scalding temperatures and to study how it affected the blood, the brain, and internal organs.
Taunton State has a wide range of long, deep, and dark tunnels located under each and every building connecting all to the main building. All the tunnels have been closed off and are a 'forbidden' area to trek in due to buildings collapsing and sinking into them. The tunnels were used for laundry, traveling in the winter, moving convicts and patients, and transporting the dead to the morgue. There were no lights in the tunnels and you had to walk through them by candle light. There was a laundry and a body shoot that was located near both the laundry facilities and the morgue. In the later years, electricity was able to be run through the tunnels with use of extension cords.
A good portion of the inmates were not, in fact, insane. It is known that if a woman was thought to have turrets or depression she was deemed insane and was forced into an insane asylum. If an inmate was to escape, no one ever made it past the hospitals water tower, which was located about twenty acres from the main building, and brought back to face the punishment of being hacked to death with an axe. There have been sightings of lights being turned on, in abandoned buildings where there was no electricity, as well as faces seen in windows and hands appearing on the chained fences after dark.
Despite it's horrific history, Taunton State had seventy percent of it's buildings demolished, rebuilt, and refurbished and was made into a successful facility to help aid the severely mentally retarded, insane, and depressed with the utmost care and professionalism. It has the highest success rate for declines in suicides and the best care for the insane. It even houses minors who have mental and/or behavioral problems.
Even though it has turned it's past representations around, it is still known to have staff report weird screaming, echoing of someone or something banging on the walls of the facilities, and figures appearing and then disappearing during the day and night. There have also been sightings of figures appearing to attempt to climb over the farthest end of the hospitals walls, figures trying to reach out through the fence as well as distant figures that are seemingly transparent running over the hills and through the corn field.
During its days as an asylum for the insane there were rumors of cult activity at the hospital, some even say this caused its initial closing. Staff members would bring their more incapacitated patient down into the basement to conduct bizarre rituals to Satan. There are stories of how Satan appeared to them after sacrificing patients to the devil. To this day, there are reports of cold spots felt in the basements of the buildings. Even hard criminals have refused to enter the basement to perform daily chores down in the basements due to being scared of what happens to people when they enter there. There have been accounts of staff members quitting after going into the basement because of the over bearing sense of evil and pain in the basements.
It is known that evil isn't just in the basement. There have been other sightings such as a shadow man who appears out of nowhere and at times has no form but seems to be moving fast and crawling across the wall towards the patient but then disappears once close enough for the patient to reach out and touch it. It is also known to residents and staff as 'The Watcher' because it always appears in a corner of the patients rooms in the middle of the night, watching them as they sleep. The areas outside of the hospital are also said to be haunted, the whole property is now off limits to the people with cameras that used to stroll the area and run road races across its lawn. In a cemetery just off the property one resident had an experienced that changed his life. He was able to find a way out of the facility and decided to hide in the cemetery to lay low and plan where he would spend the night. As he crouched near a tombstone he felt cold hands on his shoulder. Thinking he had been caught, he raised his arms and turned around. There was no one there but he heard a faint voice whisper the word, “leave.” He walked back to the building barely able to breath and turned himself in. There is even a rumor about a garden gnome that is seen in every room of the abandoned buildings, the same gnome, down to the same chippings and markings, that was used to sodomize criminals that acted out in the 60's and 70's.
Taunton State has only one guard due to not needing any more security. It has been known that men, women, and even children whom have trespassed illegally have gone missing and not heard from since. The city of Taunton is referred to as the "Cursed County" because of this hospital. There hasn't been a person, to record, that has trespassed and has come back. It is said that if you were to enter the grounds uninvited or illegally you end up being pulled into the paranormal activities that occur there and go missing. It has even been said that if you do end up a victim to the paranormal activities that your screams can be heard, distant and faint, but nonetheless you will be heard in death, screaming out for help.
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