From Daily Hampshire Gazette
The life and death of Old Main: Images preserve the legacy of a now-demolished Northampton State Hospital building
Thursday, December 13, 2007
by Sarah Dunlap
About 6 years ago, Haydenville photographer Mark Majeski lost sight of his dog, Zoey, while walking on the grounds of the former Northampton State Hospital. Following the sound of her barking, Majeski found his way into the long-abandoned main building of the hospital through an off-kilter door - and entered a near-forgotten world.
His Nikon camera conveniently in hand, Majeski, a professional photographer and graphic designer, spent the rest of the day wandering through the defunct mental hospital’s halls and tunnels, photographing the cavernous building inside and out.
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From The Valley Advocate
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Horns
Northampton voters passed the Community Preservation Act, permitting the state to tax them more so the revenue could go toward historic preservation, open space preservation, and community housing. While Jack Hornor’s a passionate affordable housing advocate, in his first year overseeing the committee, Northampton’s lost far more history than it’s preserved. Hornor justified the destruction of Northampton State Hospital’s historic Old Main building by saying that it was a public health hazard, and sooner or later someone might have gotten hurt. Seems to us old buildings have far more to fear from him than we do from the buildings.
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From The Republican
Monday, December 17, 2007
by Fred Contrada
Once upon a time - 1856 to be precise - the great lights of their day built an asylum for the insane atop a hill in Northampton and called it the Northampton Lunatic Hospital.
You wouldn’t have wanted to spend the weekend there, but it was created with the good intention of providing humane treatment for the mentally ill.
In 1903, with the patient population up to 650, the institution changed its name to Northampton State Hospital. By 1952, there were more than 1,000 patients and the place was a village unto itself.
With more than 500 workers, it was the biggest employer in Northampton. Many of them lived on the grounds and went from one building to another through underground tunnels.
The hospital boasted its own farm, piggery, bowling alley and beauty parlor. Legend has it there was also a sort of Potter’s Field where inmates were buried in unmarked graves, the location of which remains unknown to this day.
By the 1990s, the approach to mental health had come full circle and the powers that be declared the mentally ill were better served in the communities from which they came. The hospital gradually shut down, and everyone left. But for all the blood, sweat and tears shed there, the place will forever be known as Hospital Hill.
Wait. Make that Village Hill Northampton.
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