One day in January, as we were driving around looking for places to explore, something came across our RADAR while searching for interesting places to check out in the area. It was The Norwich State Hospital, also known as the Norwich Mental Asylum.
This was an abandoned mental asylum on the bank of a river and right next to a grave yard. Add the fact that it was getting dark, beginning to rain and a chill was in the air and you had the right combination of things to make me want to explore.
So, I pointed Ebony in the direction of the Norwich Mental Asylum. We could not find an address so I had to use coordinates: 41° 29′ 21″ N, 72° 4′ 24″ W. Before long, we had arrived. I expected a few buildings on a single piece of land. What I came to find out is that there were multiple buildings scattered across over 900 acres of land. And, a cool thing I learned, they are all connected by underground tunnels! I had a flashlight, water and hiking boots. I was ready to go. Not everyone in the family shared my enthusiasm. I could not blame them. This kind of exploration wasn’t for everyone.
However, in researching things from my phone a little more, I learned that the tunnels were completely filled with asbestos and had been decaying for years. Since my desire to stay cancer free (asbestos can lead to cancer) was stronger than my exploratory spirit, I did not explore the tunnels or the inside of the buildings. And, if you are reading this, I suggest you stay out of the tunnels and the buildings as well.
I did however stop in front of as many as I could see from the road and grabbed some snapshots. To get a picture of one building, I had to cross the graveyard (which was open) and make my way to the back wall. From there I had to lean over into a darkness of trees and who knows what else. But, I got the pix!
As I surveyed the whole area before we departed, I stopped to ponder two things. The first one is that this was home to over 3000 mentally ill people at one time and the whole place was self-sufficient from power production to farming. The other thing I stopped to ponder was…I wonder if the people across the river, at the Mohegan Sun Casino, who are paying top dollar to have a river view actually know that their view encompasses an abandoned insane asylum?!?! Hahaha! Safe travels.
