Danvers State Hospital

At the top of Hathorne Hill in Danvers, Massachusetts sits a residential community known as Avalon Danvers. The complex of condominiums and apartments is innocuous enough, except for the presence of a large, red brick gothic building at its heart. This beautiful old 19th century structure is the only reminder of what stood here before: Danvers State Hospital.

Danvers State Hospital began life in 1878 as the Danvers State Lunatic Asylum. The hospital was created to provide care for Massachusetts' mentally ill and was, like many "insane asylums" of the time, originally housed within the walls of a magnificent Kirkbride building (this one in particular being designed by Boston architect Nathaniel J. Bradlee). Over the years, many more buildngs were constructed as the hospital grew and eventually the hospital became home to a couple thousand patients at any given time. The hospital's purpose expanded too, including a training program for nurses, a pathological research laboratory, and school clinics to determine mental deficiencies in children.

Danvers State Hospital's grounds included acres of farmland used to grow crops and raise livestock for feeding the patients. In addition, the institution had its own power plant and workshops. While never truly self-sufficient, the hospital was meant to be something of a self-contained community. This had the dual advantage of saving the state money as well as making the asylum as removed from the real world as possible so that patients could convelesce in a sanctuary far removed from the supposed causes of their illness. As with most such asylums however, the ideal was never fully realized. Danvers and its patients and employees suffered from a lack of financial support and conditions were sometimes harsh. In addition, the hidden "sanctuary" sometimes became the stage for rather unpleasant events.

In the 1960s, as medical treatment for mental illness advanced and the concept of deinstitutionalization became popular, the patient population at Danvers State Hospital began to decrease, eventually dwindling to a few hundred severe cases. The hospital eventually closed in 1992 due to budget cuts in Massachusetts' mental health system. Its remaining patients and employees were shifted to the state hospital in Tewksbury.

After closing, the Danvers State Hospital campus was shuttered and remained abandoned for over a decade. The location became a popular spot for curious explorers and artists, and was even featured prominently in the 2001 film Session 9. The future of the land and the slowly decaying buildings on it remained uncertain for some time, but plans for a residential development emerged and slowly moved forward. The developer Archstone Communities won a bid for redevelopment, although preservationists criticized their plan which called for demolishing nearly all the buildings and leave only one-third of the historic Kirkbride in place.

Archstone eventually walked away from the project citing cost and a downturn in the housing market. But soon after, developer Avalon Bay Communities took on the project. Unfortunately, Avalon basically followed in Archstone's footsteps, planning the demolition of all but one-third of the Kirkbride. In 2006, Avalon began tearing down buildings to make way for Avalon Danvers. In spite of concerns about the destruction of such an historic property and a legal suit brought by preservationists at the last hour, most of Danvers State Hospital was destroyed. Within a short few months all but the outer shell of a small portion of the Kirkbride was obliterated. In it's place is a modern condominium and apartment complex, with only a small reminder of what once stood at the top of Hathorne Hill.