Late Autumn Ghosts III: Dixmont Psychiatric Hospital

It was a bucket list thing, simple as that.

The old Dixmont State Hospital for the Insane which, by the time I moved out to the western suburbs of Pittsburgh, had been demolished and the remaining land destabilized by developers for Walmart which caused a portion of the 407 acres to slide across route 65 and the Norfolk & Southern railway system.

photo posted on post-gazette.com

Why did I care?

The Dixmont asylum was closed in the mid-1980s and demolished in 2006. But the graves of the residents and some works still remain, approximately 1300.

Kewl!

My love of old, dilapidated things, including graveyards, drew me to the site. Early November proved a good time as the weeds and brush were gone from the wooded area that holds the remains of patients-some of which were soldiers from The American Civil War. The plots were still in relatively good condition. The graves were marked by small obelisk-like cement structures, numbered chronologically. A few had American flags placed in the ground next to the markers, indicating the person.

What strikes one after taking a Stroll among the nameless people that were laid to rest is a sense of sadness that these individuals were forgotten: Placed in a pine or wicker box and set in the ground with a marker of poured concrete and two metal stakes to hold it in place. The marker assigned and etched with the next number in line.

But these were different times.

Human life was not as highly valued as it is today in 2015. The cornerstone of the main building in Dixmont was laid in 1859, six years before the end of the Civil War. The country had a different reality. What is impressive is that the radical idea that the mentally ill should have a separate facility to care for them. Dorothea Lynde Dix (April 4, 1802 – July 17, 1887) was one of this country’s first female social reformers.

Forget about Betsey Ross: that was a fairy tale made up by her family to get their family name recognized! Dorothea Dix was the real deal! Check her out on Wikipedia.

What began as a facility for 113 patients in 1859 turned into 1500 patients in 1907; many of those patients were World War I veterans being treated for the first time of what would later be called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Unfortunately, from the 1950s to the 1970s the country was in the process of an ill-fated attempt to deinstitutionalize the mental health system.

The facility was slowly going bankrupt and in 1984 closed its doors. Many of the buildings stood for another twenty years to the benefit of ghost hunters, photographers, psychic investigators and vandals.

The cemetery is owned by the state and still has relatively good access if you know where to look. Over the years many volunteers has gave their time keeping the grounds clear. If you are so inclined, please pay a visit and your respects. Along with the photos I added a map of how to locate the cemetery. No, Google Maps does not have it listed on GPS.

So if a remote graveyard from a former psychiatric hospital in a wooded area of Western Pennsylvania is on your bucket list, you are in luck. And I have a map too!  The Red “X” marks the spot!