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Danvers Galleries

Danvers State Mental Hospital : Danvers State Hospital sits perched atop Hathorne Hill in Danvers, Massachusetts. Local folklore has it that Hathorne Hill is named for Judge John Hathorne, of the Salem Witch Trials (which actually happened in Danvers, then known as Salem Village). It was completed in 1878 and was designed by Nathaniel J. Bradlee. The building was initially designed to board 450 patients, but at the time of its closure in 1992 it was so overcrowded the attics were filled.

The main gothic-style building was originally designed by Dr. Thomas Kirkbride, a leader of the therapeutic method of treating mentally ill patients referred to as "Moral Treatment".  It's main purpose was to create a sanctuary for the patients, and a radical change from most asylums of the time.  It later became something much worse, holding many dangerously ill patients and becoming a place of experiment for doctors to try and perfect new techniques for treating the mentally ill, one being the ice-pick labotomy.

The buildings and grounds were abandoned in 1992 when funding was cut for many psychiatric hospitals, and its patients that weren't transferred to other hospitals were released into nursing homes and halfway houses.

It was the setting both interior and exterior for the movie "Session 9", released in 2001 and starring David Caruso.  They didn't have to do much in the way of set decoration for that movie, as much of the objects you see in it (including that really creepy chair) are items left from the hospital's closing.

The property is currently being redeveloped into condos and apartments.  All the buildings are being torn down with the exception of the main building's middle section and inner 2 wings on each side.  A memorial is planned for the patient's cemeteries that are here.  Click here for the latest updates

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Danvers State Mental Hospital

Danvers State Hospital sits perched atop Hathorne Hill in Danvers, Massachusetts. Local folklore has it that Hathorne Hill is named for Judge John Hathorne, of the Salem Witch Trials (which actually happened in Danvers, then known as Salem Village). It was completed in 1878 and was designed by Nathaniel J. Bradlee. The building was initia ...

Updated: Jan 12, 2006 5:22pm PST

Porter / High Street Cemetery est. 1758 : Click here for full Index of Names

The Porter / High Street Cemetery is located on High St. in Danvers and was established in 1758. 

See it's location and get directions at Yahoo Maps.

Porter / High Street Cemetery est. 1758

Click here for full Index of Names The Porter / High Street Cemetery is located on High St. in Danvers and was established in 1758. See it's location and get directions at Yahoo Maps.

Updated: Oct 23, 2005 6:05pm PST

Wadsworth Cemetery est. circa 1667 : Index of Names

The Wadsworth Cemetery is located on Summer St. in Danvers and was established circa 1670 - 1682. Hundreds of settlers are buried here in unmarked graves, including early ministers and their families as well as persons killed in Indian raids.

See it's location and get directions at Yahoo Maps.

Click here for full index of names

Wadsworth Cemetery est. circa 1667

Index of Names The Wadsworth Cemetery is located on Summer St. in Danvers and was established circa 1670 - 1682. Hundreds of settlers are buried here in unmarked graves, including early ministers and their families as well as persons killed in Indian raids. See it's location and get directions at Yahoo Maps. Click here for full i ...

Updated: Oct 23, 2005 6:38am PST

Rebecca Nurse Burying Ground est. 1692 : Name Index

The Rebecca Nurse Burying Ground is located at the Nurse Homestead on 149 Pine Street in Danvers. It was established in 1692, when she was hung as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. After the victims were put to death, the local government buried their bodies in unmarked graves on Gallow's Hill. But the Nurse family retrieved her body and laid her to rest somewhere on their farmland. 

This property is now a museum open to the public and has been used as the setting for many movies including Alistair Cooke's America, Three Sovereigns for Sarah, My Mother The Witch, and Young Goodman Brown.

Much of the witchcraft hysteria actually took place in Salem Village, which is now Danvers. For those of you looking for other graves of the Witch Trial Victims, you can view the Salem Witch Trials memorial. The many of the victims were not given gravestones and were buried in unmarked graves near the site of their hanging.

See it's location and get directions at Yahoo Maps.

Rebecca Nurse Burying Ground est. 1692

Name Index The Rebecca Nurse Burying Ground is located at the Nurse Homestead on 149 Pine Street in Danvers. It was established in 1692, when she was hung as a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. After the victims were put to death, the local government buried their bodies in unmarked graves on Gallow's Hill. But the Nurse family retrie ...

Updated: Oct 22, 2005 10:16am PST

 

     


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