The second stop of my recent road trip was the Indiana State Sanatorium in Rockville, Indiana.
The sanatorium opened to patients in 1911 as the Indiana State Tuberculosis Hospital (Old Indiana State Chest Disease Sanatorium). With the successful treatment of tuberculosis, the facility converted to a pyschiatric hospital in the 1950's. The facility closed in the late 60's, but later reopened in the late 70's as an assisted living facility. The state also transferred patients from other mental institutions into the facility.
A history of more than 4,000 deaths and many tragedies at the health care center were said to have contributed to the poor reputation/decline of the facility – including many allegations of resident abuse and deaths. In 2002, a woman found outside dead of hypothermia, and months later a man hanged himself less than quarter-mile away. Residents again wandered away and died in separate 2006 incidents, one struck by a car and the other found in creek; 2009 murder-suicide of two employees. The facility closed in 2011 after loss of funding.
Given the history of the place, it has a reputation of being haunted--and attracts "ghost hunters" from around the country. The buildings are currently privately owned and open for tours or private exploration.
As I arrived at the complex, I was asked to sign a waiver. I was told that I should be careful, particularly in a few of the buildings, as the floors are very soft and subject to collapse! I also learned that the buildings don't have electricity, so a flashlight is necessary to maneuver around the buildings. At times, I was pushing through wild vines to enter doors. It was a lot more of an adventure than I anticipated!
Here are some of the photographs I captured:
1- Front grounds of the Tuberculosis Hospital...several vehicles were just left abandoned on the grounds when the facility closed. Two of those vehicles appear in this photo.
2- The Beauty Shop
3- Community bus...also left abandoned on the grounds
4- The Grand Staircase (and the wheelchair didn't get there by chance...I carried it up the stairs!)
5- The Music Hall
6- Corridor to the Nursing Home
7- Orange shoes left behind
8- Nurses Station...I know it doesn't look like it with such long exposures, but it was super dark in here. I had to use my flashlight to get around. A little eerie, too, given how deep into the nursing home I am at this station.
9- Peeling wallpaper
10- Beauty parlor
11- Organ
12- Another from the beauty shop
As I walked through the various buildings, I was amazed at how so many things were just left behind when the facility abruptly closed. I saw one room filled with linens, another was filled with hospital food trays, plates and covers. Binders were laying around with patient medical reports inside. At one point, I noticed that I was in the morgue!
