• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Stories
  • Games
    • View All
    • FAQ
  • Encyclopaedia
  • About
  • Support TGIMM
  • Shop
  • Contact

The Ghost In My Machine

Stories of the Strange and Unusual

Abandoned(-ish): The Half-Life Of St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, D.C. (Photos)

March 27, 2017 by Lucia

Previously: Zombie Subdivisions. 

There’s a reason I’ve tagged an “-ish” to the heading of this installment of “Abandoned”: St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. isn’t totally abandoned. A new building adjacent to the historic East Campus was opened in 2010, providing an updated psychiatric facility that is still in use today; what’s more, there are big plans in the work for much of the remaining grounds.

St. Elizabeth's Hospital's central building
Wikimedia Commons

But although there are currently plans to revitalize it, most of the hospital has for years sat largely vacant, not in a state of complete decay, but certainly neglected.

Originally opened in January of 1855, St. Elizabeths bears the (perhaps dubious, given how awful the state of mental healthcare was at the time) honor of being the first federally operated psychiatric facility in the United States. Mental healthcare reform activist and advocate Dorothea Dix was instrumental in its creation; together with Dr. Charles H. Nichols, who was to be the hospital’s first superintendent, she worked to develop the facility from the ground up, starting with writing the legislation that established it. Construction began on St. Elizabeths as a modified Kirkbride plan in 1853, operating in three phases: First the west wing went up, followed be the east, and lastly the administrative facilities in the center. Two additional buildings were also built for black patients — one for men and one for women — because, well, institutionalized racism. By July of 1855, 60 patients resided at the hospital; the number had risen to 93 by June 1856. Fees for patients typically ranged between $5 and $15 a week (roughly $140 to $415 today).

[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]

At the time, the hospital wasn’t actually called St. Elizabeths; like many early psychiatric facilities, it underwent a name change later on. Upon its opening, it was simply known as the Government Hospital for the Insane (a name which would certainly be frowned upon these days due to its stigmatizing language). The name of St. Elizabeths came in 1916, after Congress passed a piece of legislation redubbing it; somewhat bizarrely, the legislation lacks an apostrophe between the “h” and the “s,” so its official name is St. Elizabeths, rather than St. Elizabeth’s.

Before that happened, though, the Civil War came. Portions of the facility were repurposed as an army and navy hospital, beginning a fairly rich history of the hospital being reused for other purposes. After the war ended, and after the facility was renamed, it also played host to a number of animals brought back from expeditions that were meant to live at the National Zoo; a lack of housing for the animals resulted in them arriving at St. Elizabeths.

The hospital expanded dramatically in the early 20th century, with superintendent Alonzo B. Richardson running the charge. Although he would only be superintendent for four years until his death in 1903, the expansion added 1,000 more beds to St. Elizabeths. By the time the facility hit its peak several decades later, it housed 8,000 patients and boasted 4,000 employees — and, as was common for psychiatric hospitals of this era, it began to suffer due to overpopulation. Although St. Elizabeths never suffered the scandal that many other psychiatric facilities of the era did, it began to decline in the 1950s, gradually reducing its population and floating in a sort of limbo when it came to who would be responsible for operating it. Its accreditation fluctuated, being lost and gained at various times over several decades—and finally the responsibility of operation was transferred to the District of Columbia in 1987.

But although St Elizabeth has been lingering in disuse for many years, the new building that opened in 2010 signifies large changes coming. Although the 2010 addition is a psychiatric facility, a “Master Plan” to repurpose much of St. Elizabeths as headquarters for government agencies and organizations has been in the works for several years.

Perhaps the facility’s half-life will be coming to an end soon. Its history, though, will live on.

Rory Finneren/Flickr
Stuart McAlpine/Flickr
Rory Finneren/Flickr
Rory Finneren/Flickr
St. Elizabeth's Hospital's central building
Wikimedia Commons
Rory Finneren/Flickr
Rory Finneren/Flickr
Wikimedia Commons
Rory Finneren/Flickr
benuski/Flickr
Rory Finneren/Flickr
benuski/Flickr
Stuart McAlpine/Flickr
Stuart McAlpine/Flickr
Stuart McAlpine/Flickr
Rory Finneren/Flickr
Rory Finneren/Flickr
Rory Finneren/Flickr
Stuart McAlpine/Flickr
benuski/Flickr
Wikimedia Commons
Rory Finneren/Flickr
Wikimedia Commons
Wikimedia Commons

***

Follow The Ghost In My Machine on Twitter @GhostMachine13 and on Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine. And don’t forget to check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available now from Chronicle Books!

[Photos available via Creative Commons licenses; for credits and source links, see captions of each individual photo.]

Filed Under: Places Tagged With: Abandoned, abandoned hospitals, abandoned places, photography, St. Elizabeths Hospital, Washington DC

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Top Stories

‘Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark’ Is Now Available From Chronicle Books!

15 Creepy, Scary Phone Numbers To Call That Actually Work (UPDATED For 2023)

The Backrooms, Explained: How To Make Sense Of The Internet’s Favorite Non-Reality

About

The Ghost In My Machine is an internet campfire of sorts. Gather round, because it wants to tell you strange stories, take you on haunted journeys, and make you jump at unexpected noises.

Continue Reading >

Support

Like what you read? Support The Ghost In My Machine!

 

Support

Follow

Facebook Twitter

From the Vault

  • Bloody Mary & Other Games We Shouldn’t Play

    Scare Yourself Silly

  • This Man

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • The Dionaea House

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • The Noise Coming From Inside Children

    Scare Yourself Silly

  • NoEnd House

    Is It Real?

  • Killswitch

    Creepy Things That Seem Real But Aren’t

  • The “Lost” Mickey Mouse Cartoon

    Is It Real?

  • 200 Phenomena In The City Of Calgary

    Scare Yourself Silly

View All >

Letters from the Beyond

Enter your email to receive blog posts and updates by email

  • Stories
  • Games
  • Encyclopaedia
  • About
  • Support TGIMM
  • Shop
  • Contact

Privacy Policy

We use cookies to give you the best online experience. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of all the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT