The Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey will soon be completely demolished in order to get a new life as an open recreational space, but those plans (which were supposed to be complete this year) have been delayed. So it still stands, in its deteriorating and beautifully terrifying state.
The hospital opened in 1931, with 17 cottages and buildings able to accommodate around 800 patients—originally all ages, in 1978 only adults and adolescents were treated there. There is also a cemetery for those who died there—and in the late '70s, after 131 patients fell ill and four died, patient deaths were investigated by the Public Advocate's Office.
During its troubled history, patients went missing, froze to death, choked to death, got food poisoning, and died from untreated ailments. It eventually closed in 1998, and given the amount of graffiti on the walls, has somewhat of a Cropsey-draw to locals. Legends include a murderous farmer in the abandoned slaughterhouse on the grounds, and hauntings in the buildings. (That didn't scare away fugitives who were caught there earlier this week though.)
Photographer Yojimbot recently traveled to the grounds and returned with a nice set of images—click through for a preview, and see more photos here.
