An while the town of Belchertown may have forgotten this nasty piece of its history in the few decades since the state school was closed, it is possible the former residents still remember. Wikipedia. Belchertown is located in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, has one of the largest land areas in the Commonwealth, and borders part of the Quabbin Reservoir, one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the country. Graffiti and vandalism are rampant. Sometimes, handicapped patients had their teeth removed to facilitate feeding. View fullsize ©Mike Schwarz - October 2015. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. The population was 14,649 at the 2010 census. (2004). Private Trip: Croatia’s Abandoned Sites & Ancient Cities, Private Trip: A Culinary Exploration of Lisbon, Private Trip: A Mexico City Culinary Adventure, Private Trip: Chernobyl by Day, Kyiv by Night, Writing a Personal History With Hadley Meares and Jessica Leigh Hester, The Living Art of Dead Things (With Wings): Bird Taxidermy With Allis Markham, Sunday Sabor: A Masterclass in Spanish Rice, Lovely 'Lake Stars' Shine in Winter's Chill, The Easy, Edible Art of Lunar New Year Dumplings, On the Slopes With Montana's Avalanche Detectives, Found: The Lost Tlingit Fort That Defended Alaska From Russian Attack, Biocrusts Are an Entire World Beneath Our Feet, Meet the Experimental Violinist Forging Her Own Path, How a Blacksmith in Jordan Created His Own Sign Language, In Naples, Praying With Skulls Is an Ancient Tradition, http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MA/Hampshire/districts.html, http://www.1856.org/belchertown/belchertown.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belchertown_state_school. In the basement of one building, a piano is lying on its back like a sleeping horse. The land on which the school sat is, as of 2016, being redeveloped for … Belchertown State School is now closed, but its existence continues to affect the lives of countless individuals. National historic sites this state doesn’t,t care about this was once beautiful property and buildings. C’mon, guys. Belchertown’s story helped push Massachusetts out of the institutionalizing protocols and into mainstreaming, which is what we use today. Lesen Sie ehrliche … Crimes against humanity: A historical perspective. Large recreational rooms on either side of the dormitory halls get the most sun. Today, the buildings are all boarded up. The buildings have asbestos and, while possible to walk in, aren’t structurally sound. A large flock of poultry along with a number of cattle helped make the school almost self-sufficient from Belchertown proper. Consisting of about 50 buildings on a 845 acre campus, the facility was once rated to support over 700 residents, to which was exceeded in the 1920's. A contractor charged with nailing new boards over the broken windows of the State School explained: “They come in here with axes and cameras and smash on through.”. By the early 1970s the State School cloistered 1,500 patients in 13 dorms, their age ranging from 1 to 88; it was not uncommon for residents to spend their entire lives at the facility. The 845 acre campus comprising some 57 buildings must be called scenic, if nothing else—the Holyoke Range is … The Belchertown State School is located off of Front Street and Berkshire Avenue in Belchertown, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Status: Abandoned. When I asked people in town what they thought would happen to this place, they said they were happy to see it go. It has 128 pages and is a paperback. Arcadia Publishing. Opened in 1915, Belchertown State School would eventually encompass almost 900 acres of land and would become the largest employer in town. In an upper floor, a note was scrawled on the floor, on top of which were human feces. No purchase necessary. - YouTube The city has been saying that since 2008, and it’s still there, probably with the same man reboarding the same windows. Background: Belchertown is by far one of the most heinous, immoral, and downright terrifying examples of our mental health system falling short. Belchertown State School: History and Exploration. After its establishment, the school became the only institution for developmentally disabled children in Western Massachusetts. There was work to improve the quality of life before the expose, however, most obviously in the Belchertown State School Friends Association.
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