It was designed on the Kirkbride hospital model, which was employed at Danvers State and many other mental institutions across the country. The asylum was meant to be a therapeutic environment for patients, stressing physical labor (livestock tending, cooking, cleaning, laundry) and humane treatment by doctors and nurses.

However, by the turn of the century, NSH was a last stop for the severely mentally ill. The hospital began to use more aggressive therapies, such as hydrotherapy, pharmaceuticals, lobotomies, and electroshock. By the late 20th century, NSH was overcrowded and under funded. It began to close its doors in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s, and by the mid-1990’s all of the patients had been phased out.

The relationship of Smith College to the hospital was always rather odd. Rumor has it that, when the hospital was still active, there was a double-sided sign on the campus border. On the Smith side, it read: Danger: Hospital Patients. On the hospital side, someone had written: Danger. Smith College Students. As a student, I spent a considerable amount of time lurking about the grounds and poking around inside.

In November 2000, an artist named Anna Schuliet produced an amazing memorial for the Northampton State Hospital and the patients, doctors, and nurses that had walked its halls. After a rather fascinating symposium and former patients’ forum, over 1,000 people gathered around the main hospital building.

Music filtered from the broken windows and boarded up doors, from the dilapidated roof and every other crevice of the old asylum. The sweet, mournful notes of Bach's Magnificat rose from hundreds of strategically placed speakers within the first floor of the main building. Snow began to gently fall. It was one of the most ethereal events I have ever experienced—an undefinable release. After that day, I never returned.

They are knocking down Northampton State in order to build affordable housing in the area. To my knowledge, this was supposed to happen over a year ago, though my townie sources state that the building still stands. About a year ago, I unconsciously began to sever my ties with Northampton. Whereas I had visited Smith multiple times in the years after graduation, it suddenly felt wrong; I needed space. I needed to draw the line between past and present.

Thankfully, however, I found those missing photographs. They were nestled beneath several balls of yarn in a box far off in the back of my closet. I spent about an hour sifting through them, then placed them beneath the yarn once more. Sometimes—not always, but sometimes—the past should remain buried until you are ready for its release.

I am hoping to get up to Northampton this fall.

Some Northampton State Hospital Info:
Northampton State Hospital
The day the Hospital Sang
1856.org
Amazing photographs by Shaun O’Boyle
Northampton State Hospital Burial Project
Ghost Town