In the middle of a New England forest In the middle of a New England forest sit the crumbling ruins of World War II-era ammunition storage bunkers. By the time the smoke cleared, only the cellars and stone foundations were left standing. Site of a famous 19th-century transcendentalist utopian community, now abandoned. Maintained by the citys Parks and Recreation Department, the park was designated a Boston Landmark in 1980. Hidden deep in the 914 acres of woods that is Rutland State Park, is a hidden gem for exploration, the Rutland Prison Camp Ruins. For instance, healthy teeth were commonly removed from those who had bitten staff more than once. It sat vacant for another 20 years until developer Alexandra Partners announced a proposal to restore the historic structures crumbling faade and add a 13-story hotel tower onto the existing building. Little to no progress has been made. Passing through a hill on the northeast side of the reservoir, the tunnel opened to rail traffic in June 1903 as part of a 105-mile route for the Central Massachusetts Railroad, which connected the cities of Boston and Northampton. Near the Dalrymple Hall and Howland Dormitory, a female apparition is said to wander, making students in these dorms feel uneasy. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'urbexunderground_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_5',151,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-urbexunderground_com-large-leaderboard-2-0'); The tunnel was built in the early 1900s as a part of a four-mile track extension from West Berlin. Plunkett Hill Condominiums was once the 1918 W.B. Rumors of restoration and expansion continued till 2015. At the time it was prohibitively costly to keep the site in operation. Two friends were reported to have been looking out a bedroom window into the gym and seeing unusual things. Thus, the old reform school in Westborough seemed an ideal place to open a new mental hospital. With the cost of renovation impractical, the station is now a collection of dilapidated 50s style housing quarters, office buildings, a bar, and a bowling alley. The old State Reform School was refurbished and became the Westborough Insane Hospital in 1886. As legend has it, ghostly Nurse Betsy of the psych ward sometimes plays the piano, as she used to do to calm her patients. The 20 members of the cooperative lived with the Ripleys in the main farmhouse known as the Hive, paying $500 to purchase their share in the community and receiving a fixed income in exchange for their work on the farm. Believing this to be the best way to advance society and improve the human race, Fernald undertook a separating of the masses, not allowing unwanted and inferior people to reproduce. Closing of the facility began at the wingtips and by the 1980s, almost all services had been relocated. Ever since the nickname stuck. The situation at the school became even more deplorable when medical experimentation began there in the 1940s and 50s. He is believed to have been inadvertently sealed in when the foundation was laid. The institution opened in 1886 as the Westborough Insane Hospital immediately received 200 patients from nearby overcrowded facilities. If you climb the hill overlooking the quarry, you can still see the remnants of the rope system once used to pull large slabs of granite from the earth. This design choice focused on more open areas for communal work, and eliminated the small cells of previous designs. The network of towers extends 75 miles along the Massachusetts coastline. Many of the boys sent to the school had committed severe crimes but some were merely guilty of truancy, poverty, or stubbornness. Despite housing some violent criminals, the institution had no gates or locked doors and resembled an open campus prep school. Whittenton Mills Complex is a historic textile mill built in 1805. Worcester State Hospital. Posted with No Trespassing signs and monitored by police and video cameras, they sadly do not want any future internet fame. Now abandoned and graffiti-covered, this railroad tunnel was once the longest in Massachusetts. See. Many of the windows and entrances are sealed most of the time. And the state would save money by repurposing the facility. Find out all the things you can Between 1945 and 1950, four people disappeared, and only one of their bodies was ever found. The scenic views of Lake Chauncy and the hilltop location made it a favorable location. Its stone walls and arched entry have been painted with colorful graffiti, and the utter darkness inside the structure makes it feel much longer than it really is. In 1886, the Lyman School for Boys opened leaving the present facility empty. This began to change during the early 1900s as more manufacturing and a new train line were built right outside the building. In 1999, the large dome collapsed and the site was left abandoned and in ruins. Of all the abandoned places in Massachusetts, the Fernald State School has one of the darkest histories on our list. The quarry operated until the 1960s before shutting down. Doctors would do little to determine if a person was mentally disabled, and often label homeless and those with anxiety as mentally defective. The quarry produced mostly granite that was used to construct statues, buildings, and ornate art pieces. Built in 1903 to house petty criminals and drunks, the prison was also a fully functioning 150-acre farm. The inspiration for H.P. This abandoned neighborhood is now a park filled with beautiful trees, wildflowers, and hints of its past. 2023 Atlas Obscura. Plans changed for the park and a new zoo was added in a different area of the park. The hospital was used as a film location for the movie Session 9 in 2011. Just 24 years and $21 million later, the tunnel was complete. The horses allegedly swap positions, seemingly overnight. Many urbex were interested in the historical architecture or exploring the abandoned operating theaters. He was a firm believer in eugenics, the practice of selective breeding for the improvement in intelligence in the general population. Today the property is owned by the National Park Service. Plunkett Memorial Hospital, aka the Old Asylum. hbspt.forms.create({ During the 70s the theatre would continue to offer continuous shows from one until 11:00 PM. During its peak, the hospital could hold 2,200 residents. He told her he thought he was shot and killed by his own men. Dogtowns population would fall as the American Revolution came to a close. The buildings now sit silent as a grim reminder of how we treated those different from us, and how some preyed on the vulnerable for the greater good. North Adams Houghton Mansion holds a variety of creepy sights, including an abandoned Freemason meeting room, an old barber chair and dusty Victorian Resonating tubes make music from highway overpass. There have been several unsolved disappearances on the mountain, and all the trails stop partway up the mountain as if forbidding hikers to go any further. The farm raised meat, produce, and dairy for the prisoners kept under lock and key. Recreation areas host sporting events and concerts while the modern zoo draws in millions of visitors yearly. Powered by revize, the Government Website Experts | Login. The ruins are part of the surrounding park. The subway was built to alleviate automobile congestion above ground. By the 1980s, all remaining patients at the hospital had been moved out of the antique Kirkbride Building leaving it empty and neglected. While this might not be your typical idea of an abandoned location, I still thought it was an oddity worth mentioning. The original depot was the primary supplier of ammunition to the U.S. Atlantic Fleet during World War II, with more than 2,000 civilian employees as well as more than 700 naval officers and 375 Marine guards working on-site. Inspiring Herman Melville and Henry David Thoreau, Mount Greylock in western Massachusetts is the highest point in the state at 3,491 feet above sea level. According to local legend, playwright Peter Bergman had a ghostly encounter while visiting here. The elaborate and expensive Kirkbride institutional models, built in Worcester (1877) and Danvers (1878), were now considered a massive waste of taxpayers money. It is known to jump on cars, and is heavy enough to shake it as if a full-sized person were sitting on your trunk. Access isnt easy, and involves bypassing portions of boarded walls near Boylston station. Visitors to Boston should check it out while they still can. With near-perfect acoustics, this famous underground concert hall hosted many of the worlds top musicians and opera talents of the day. Rumor has it that the elusive ghost of a lady in a black dress has been seen at Evergreen Cemetery. Details: warning The tunnel is very active not recommend the 4-mile trip, trains do Its estimated the hotel saw several hundred travelers per day during its peak in 1881. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'urbexunderground_com-mobile-leaderboard-1','ezslot_13',144,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-urbexunderground_com-mobile-leaderboard-1-0');Many find it odd that so many things were left behind as if the workers simply dropped their tools and walked away. The hospital was closed and abandoned in 1973 These remaining structures provided a perfect urbex experience and the historical hospital became well known as a famous abandoned site in Massachusetts. Built in 1869 on a tract of land away from the city, now along Route 9, stands the remains of this once proud hospital. Although the hospitals treatments were considered controversial at the time, Westborough had a relatively high number of patients recover and be discharged. By the 1930s, over 2,000 mentally ill patients were crammed into every available space. Not many explorers have been inside so its unknown what artifacts might be left behind. While on paper his philosophy applied only to the mentally-retarded, in practice this spread to include the abandoned, unwanted, and the poor. 42.4053, -71.6837. These towers would identify enemy vessels and direct artillery fire from local batteries. You can visit the site by following signs and taking a roughly two-mile hike from the nearest parking. While there isnt a whole lot left, it provides a unique look at how prisons operated during the turn of the century. All rights reserved. Even today, people are curious about what Americas Most Haunted Asylum looks like and there is still much internet activity about the site. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). Like Atlas Obscura and get our latest and greatest stories in your Facebook feed. At this mansion where Mayor A.C. Houghton and his family lived, a ghostly chauffeur lingers. Over the decades, most of the original buildings constructed as part of the farm commune were destroyed by fire, although the old Lutheran cemetery remains intact on the site. Built from 1912 to 1930, this 272-mile-long hiking trail is famous for its disappearances. The College of Saint Rose campus is rumored to have many haunted buildings. During 1963 the northern section of the tunnel was redeveloped and ultimately filled in to support the new Boston City Hall that was being built above it. Due to the size and risk associated with exploring Medfield, novice explorers should view from a distance or plan extensively. Due to its proximity to the reservoir, the area around the tunnel tends to be muddy, with several inches of standing water at times accumulating inside the tunnel during the summer rainy season. Husband Teddy Wharton and a servant girl also have been seen, as well as an old-fashioned gentleman believed to be Whartons lover, who Forest Park Cemetery, aka Pinewoods Cemetery, is an 1897 graveyard known for its locally told ghost stories. Here are a few guides to surrounding states that will be helpful in your explorations outside of the wonderful abandoned places in Massachusetts: If you have a specific location from the list below that you would like to immediately get more information about, click the links in the list to snap straight to that abandoned places in Massachusetts location. Famous for its arched stone staircase in the middle of the forest, Madame Sherri's castle is also legendary for its rumors of ghosts. Just all urbex all the time. Whats left?if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'urbexunderground_com-leader-1','ezslot_6',137,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-urbexunderground_com-leader-1-0'); Much of the campus still stands with only three buildings being demolished. North When President Lincoln was shot, one of his guests at the theater was Sen. Ira Harris's daughter Clara. The Mount, home of renowned writer Edith Wharton, was built in 1902 and is said to be haunted; in fact, ghost tours are offered here. When the Bear Dens were featured in the 2003 Sean Penn film, Mystic River, the dens received national attention. The dry dam and all its glory sit in the middle of the woods. Apparitions of a woman have shown up in a mirror. The grounds, once immaculate and manicured, are now overgrown with weeds. Follow us on social media to add even more wonder to your day. Finally, after 70 years in operation, the school shut down in 1992. Steeped in history and richly abundant in historical sites, todays urban explorers seek out new adventures in this old land. Unique elements of neo-classical design adorn the buildings such as cast-iron in the capitals, cornices, and many ornate copulas across the roofline. Competition and mounting maintenance costs forced the owners to begin construction on a new hotel to replace the old Eyrie Hotel. Webdocument Header Notification for Removal or Closure of an In Place Storage Tank Health Department 13 documents. }); We here at Killer Urbex have noted a distinct lack of guides to dead malls and zombie malls. The bears were enjoyed by Boston families for generations. Deinstitutionalization began in the 1970s and the patient population dwindled until 1984 when only 200 patients remained at the hospital. Considered both an architectural masterpiece and a therapeutic environment for the insane, the firm went on to build similar hospitals throughout the state of Massachusetts over the next dozen years. While it looks like an interesting place for exploration, visitors will be advised about the health risks of entering the buildings. George Clough of Boston was hired to remodel the building and turn it into a hospital for the insane. Mr. Houghton, his wife Cordelia, and their 23 year old daughter Mary moved in circa 1900. The school was named for its principal benefactor, Theodore Lyman, philanthropist and mayor of Boston in 1834. The remaining structures, which survived both fire and long neglect, were only the rotunda and clock tower. To keep things historically accurate, the dam was made using locally sourced stone and good old-fashioned manpower. Dogtown settlement was a small area first settled in 1696. Known as Jolly Jane by the staff, Toppan laid next to her patients while they died. The rumor mill says the building is haunted by a former employee, a gymnastics coach, who committed suicide. The public-exposure and changing societal view of mental illness started the deinstitutionalization of the hospital in the mid-1970s. The State of Massachusetts took over the property in 1966, converting 2,900 acres into what is now Wompatuck State Park. If you are on the hunt for a great respirator to more safely observe some of these incredible abandoned places in Massachusetts, we highly recommend the3M 6800for a full-face option and theNorth 7700if you would prefer a half-face option. The building is sealed shut and now features an alarm system installed by the new owners. 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