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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