My wife and I got away for the weekend, and it's something I've always wanted to visit.

It's located in Weston, VA, and has quite a bit of historical significance. Civil War, architecture, medical procedures, patient "care" etc... They offer different types of tours: historical, photography, criminally insane, para-normal. We did the para-normal tour, and it was very interesting. Gives you a look back in the past of how they dealt with people who may have been deemed unsafe to the public at the time. But back then, a husband could pretty much admit his wife for any reason.

Don't want to give it away if you've never been. It was very interesting. They offer a night time "lock down" tour from 9pm to 5am, and we are considering that.

Anybody else been?

www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
...But back then, a husband could pretty much admit his wife for any reason...

Ahhhh, the Good Old Days!

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
...But back then, a husband could pretty much admit his wife for any reason...

Ahhhh, the Good Old Days!

^^^ Exactly my thoughts.

My wife and I have seen that place on I think Ghost Adventures. Didn’t know they had tours and lockdowns. Sounds interesting. My wife wants to know if you heard or saw anything.

No, this was a daylight tour, we had about 35 of us following the tour guide. He told us some of the things that he had seen, and some of the stories about some of the legends/history behind some of the more popular sightings/activity. Apparently you have to take the night time lock down tour to get the full effect. You get a flash light and a "ghost box", and you can be pretty much left in the dark on your own if you wish.

Some of them have been seen by multiple people over the years, so it makes you wonder.

One of the more famous doctors was Dr. Freeman and his icepick lobotomies. He'd give patients electro-shock therapy to knock them out for a few minutes, and then use an icepick pounded through the eye socket to perform a lobotomy. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to who got them. He'd walk down a corridor of patients and a nurse would randomly pick them.

They guesstimate over 1,000 people died at this hospital, and numerous shows have highlighted them. Do a youtube search, and a bunch will pop up. The travel channel was probably the most in depth one.

One of our tour guides more humorous stories involved two men named Frank and Larry. They were chronic alcoholics and lived on the fourth floor at one time. He said the fourth floor had the most recorded activity in the building. Anyways, Frank and Larry liked to play cards when they were alive, so our guide set up a black jack game with them. He had two flashlights, and asked one of them to turn one on to "hold", and turn another one on to "hit". He told them if they won, he'd bring in a bottle of their favorite alcohol, Jamison's Whiskey. The guide ended up winning, but he said he was so impressed, he'd bring a bottle in the next time they game in. Apparently, a lot of patients like to smoke, so a lot of people leave cigarettes out in the open, for the departed. Anyways, our guide came back a few days later, said he was sorry, he forgot the Jamison's. The next day he came back, the stack of cards were scattered around the room, but the 2 cigarettes he left were perfectly parallel from each other, in the center of each of their closets. The windows were shut, and no one had been in the building since the previous day.

They like to point out the building and grounds cover 666 acres.

If your in the area, it's worth a trip. Historically, it was a fun tour. It's the largest hand cut stone building the US. The second in the world behind the Kremlin. The architecture is very elaborate, and even after the decay over time of the building, it adds a unique twist to it. Throw in the asylum part of it, the brutal medical procedures, and the hauntings, it was an interesting tour.

I'm not saying that the patients in these facilities were treated humanely or that all needed to be there. But, There is a lot to be said for keeping the crazies locked away where they can't do much harm.

Actually, the hospital was built following the Kirkbride plan. He was a psychiatrist in the mid 1800's, who designed psychiatric hospitals to promote healing of the mentally ill using natural light and environmental stimulation. It's kind of ironic, the Trans-Allegheny was one of the most notorious hospitals of it's era.

It was designed to accommodate around 250 patients, but at it's peak, it was around 2500. They had 4-5 patients in single patient rooms, sometimes sleeping in shifts. Patients strapped to gurneys in the isles, and sometimes in cages...

It was kind of sad going through the children's ward. Suicides, murders, rapes, etc...

Although it wasn't included in our tour, they also have a "photography tour" which included a prisoner art gallery. You have to have a specific pass to see certain parts, so I only got a small peak inside, but it looked interesting.


West Virginia State Penitentiary is another tour we would like to take, and is close by in Moundsville, WV. It's supposedly one of the most haunted prisons in the US.

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
My wife and I got away for the weekend, and it's something I've always wanted to visit.

It's located in Weston, VA

www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/

Actually, it’s in WV
We’re a whole nother state!

quote:

Originally posted by ElKabong:

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
My wife and I got away for the weekend, and it's something I've always wanted to visit.

It's located in Weston, VA

www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/

Actually, it’s in WV
We’re a whole nother state!

I have stories about the asylum from when I was doing my training in the Weston/Buckhannon area. Prior to it being opened as a tourist attraction we would hang out there. I don't believe in the paranormal, but one incident I had there almost made me a believer. There's a brick tower that's part of the newer annex, made of red brick. We climbed to the top of it once. I felt someone try to push me off. There was nobody there but my GF, who was on here way back down when it happened.

Hell, I thought it was a Rock Band when I saw the title.