Medfield State Hospital

Medfield State Hospital, located in Medfield, Massachusetts, was built in 1892.  At the height of the hospital's reign, the property boasted 58 buildings on 900 acres of land.  Unlike now, where every complex needs town power and other immenities, Medfield generated it's own heat, light, and power.  This concept, to me at least, is amazing, thinking of how long ago the complex was built.  It's absolutely massive, and I had the privillage of walking the grounds all by myself on November 17, 2012.  

The photo to the right is Googlemaps' aerial view of the Medfield grounds.  The bottom-most building is gone now, part of the construction that's slowly beginning.  I just pray that Avalon isn't going to take this away as well.  I'm afraid to look it up because if I see that it is, I'm going to have a brain bleed.  

The Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge built asylum was brought into the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, and closed down in April of 2003.  That same month, the shuttering of all the buildings began.  The hospital was finally closed down due to a decline in patients.  The buildings are currently defunct, but oh so lovely.  I was able to grab a piece of a brick, two large nails, and pieces of a large pillar from one of the first buildings I came to.  The pieces of pillar may or may not be asbestos, but I'm not worried.  As I've said before, out of everyone I know, I'd be the one that died of mesothelioma.  

An interesting piece of information on the asylum is that the grounds were used for filming in two big Hollywood movies.  The 2009 cult film The Box was filmed on the grounds, as well as the movie Shutter Island.  Shutter Island did quite a bit of their filming on the Medfield grounds.  Scenes in Cawley's office were shot on the second floor of the chapel during the late evening; lights were shone through the windows to make it look like it was daytime. The surrounding brick walls in the outside hospital scenes were actually painted plywood which served the dual purpose of acting as scenery and blocking the set from view of a local road; Hospital Rd. Originally, scenes were going to be shot at the old Worcester State Hospital grounds, but the filming would have gone on during the demolition of the surrounding buildings, which was impractical.

I know that the grounds will be demolished soon, although not the exact date.  Because of this, I'm going to try to get up there as much as I can.  I'm hoping to head up to the grounds the weekend after Thanksgiving, though I'm not sure if I'll be able to.  I've found some old and rusty pieces on the grounds, and I've already promised to grab some for my badass friend, Steph Sciullo.  She's an amazingly talented artist, and I can't wait to see what she does with them!! 

Stay Spooky!!

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