Just up the hill from where I live, there was once an historic and architectural landmark—a long neglected Northampton State Hospital. My wife and I loved to walk our dog there in all seasons, shaded by the old growth forest that had grown up around the ivy-covered edifice. I often brought my camera with me and slowly photographed a tour circumnavigating the building.
Later, I was part of a group who tried to get the city to change course and try to find a developer to reuse the historic hospital. We failed. As part of that effort, though, I was afforded two visits inside the padlocked institution.
In 2001, I used the hour I was given (along with a group of engineers and architects) to photograph a panoramic tour of a whole floor of a single southern wing. The second visit was to the attic. The complete tour was online for several years during and after our fight to save the hospital. Years later, in 2018, I dreamt up a way I might turn the images into a book.
Through more than 50 panoramic images taken around and inside the historic building, this book offers a unique opportunity to explore this psychiatric hospital again.
Built in 1856 and demolished in 2006, the Northampton State Hospital (or Old Main, as it was known locally) was designed by pioneers in the field of mental health and treatment. Situated on a hilltop with views of the Connecticut River Valley, the hospital was intended as a retreat where people who were mentally ill could heal in a bucolic setting, working on a farm run by fellow patients.
Eventually, though, over-crowding and underfunding threatened the founders’ more honorable intentions. Through more than fifty panoramic images taken around and inside the historic building, this book offers a unique opportunity to explore this historic psychiatric hospital again. Wander the grounds at will. Circumnavigate the entire sprawling institution. Go inside. Walk the halls, visit the theater, look inside rooms, peer out windows, and climb the stairs to the attic. Explore what once was.
Softcover, 7.5″x9″, 100 pages, full-color images, $23.50, plus tax.
Published by Levellers Press, A Panoramic Tour of the Northampton State Hospital by Mark Roessler is available now.
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