Mayview State Hospital

Mayview State Hospital is closed, and venturing onto the grounds will get you arrested.   But since this article was first published in November of 2011, it's received a lot of visits, and so I thought I would update it and add some more photos.  The demolition of all these buildings is now well underway.  

These pictures were taken in September of 2010.  The first time they were published online, I got a message from The History Channel asking permission to use them. 

Unfortunately, the West Coast lady who asked to use the photos was actually working on a documentary about another famous and now defunct mental hospital near Pittsburgh: Dixmont State Hospital. C'mon, Californians, who confuses Mayview with Dixmont?  

How many frantic adieus were said at this ominous portal?

Regionally, both Mayview and Dixmont have  evil reputations.  Dixmont might be a little more infamous because of the successful patient revolt that supposedly took place there.  But there's nothing left of Dixmont except a cemetery.  Mayview, though disused, is mostly still there.  It's currently being demolished, and it's guarded 24 hours.  I ended up on the grounds of Mayview accidentally--of course.  I was just walking down the railroad tracks when I crossed a bridge over Chartiers Creek (top photo) and stumbled onto the grounds.  I even picked apples in an abandoned yard as a few cars drove past me.  I guess I looked like I belonged there...

The sign at the door of All Faith Chapel reads "One More Year."  Is it the title of a sermon or a simple lamentation?  And shouldn't it be "All Faiths Chapel"?  Some of the oldest buildings were in very bad repair when I visited.  They had clearly been abandoned for a very long time.  I would have loved to get inside to see how mental illness was treated in the days before psychotropic meds: electric shock therapy, steam closets, water treatments....Click on any photo to enlarge it.  

Of course, once I realized that I must be on the grounds of the famed Mayview State Hospital, I looked for the quickest way out.  I mean, I'm a respected professional man; it wouldn't look good if I were caught trespassing on private property.  (S&J in no way condones or promotes trespassing.)  I did have to dodge a few security guards on my way out, hiding behind trees and in doorways.  And I ended up seeing a lot more of the campus than you would expect from a person who's just looking for the exit... 

Some of the old staff residences looked pretty interesting, too.  The farmhouse--second to the last photo--is the oldest building on the grounds, I think.  If my historical research is correct, it predates the institution, which was founded in 1893.  The City of Pittsburgh--which operated the hospital prior to its becoming a state institution--originally purchased the land from a struggling farm, and my guess is that the farmer occupied this house.  The sort-of stately brick homes were occupied by administrators and doctors.