Shutter Island State Hospital

State Legislature founded this state hospital in 1892 and the campus was constructed by 1896. The campus was a cottage style state hospital built with a mix of Greek Revival, Queen Anne, and Beaux Arts architectural styles. The facility was the first hospital to be constructed under the cottage plan, coming out of an era dominated by the Kirkbride. The campus was designed by William Pitt Wentworth. In the high of its operation, the hospital had 58 buildings and spanned across more than 900 acres. It would house an average of 2,200 patients during its operation. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. As the patient population significantly decreased, it was closed down in April of 2003. The campus is open to the public to walk around from dusk to dawn daily, with entry to buildings prohibited. The hospital campus became home to the filming of various movies, some ending up being famous.

It was chilly November evening in New England. This hospital is located in one of my favorite places to be other than the great State of New Jersey. A large group of us met at the Shutter Island State Hospital and fart around the grounds for a while. These particular grounds are actually open for visitors during the daylight hours only. The campus was notorious for being extremely well sealed due to the fact of it allowing visitors to walk around widely un-supervised. Thankfully, the security and grounds team here are similar to that of the mafia. It’s all about the family and what happens in the family stays in the family. Leaving my comment on that, we were able to see the beautiful interior of one of the buildings. Inside was a pure time capsule, no graffiti of vandalism, just a true image of its former self. But the fun only started after we got out.

Back outside, our large group splits up. Everyone heads back to the car except a core team of myself, Vacant NJ, and TehDude. TehDude knows of a secret the campus holds deep within. After a long journey we finally reach a building only to hear the sounds of groundskeepers sealing the building we are about to enter. Time to abort mission. By the time we found our way back to a specific parking lot on campus deemed as out meeting spot, it was getting dark. We head back to the car, as the grounds are about to close. As we are headed back, a couple police officers enter the campus to kick any remaining visitors out. We are very obviously leaving and basically at the gate, so they don’t stop us.

It was at this very moment of safety that Vacant NJ realized he left his tripod all the way back at the parking lot; which is on the complete other side of campus. Under guidance of TehDude, we head back to retrieve the tripod as the police officers cruise the grounds with spotlights. Ducking in and out of behind buildings and even having to lay flat on the ground at times, we reach the tripod unseen. Without having to endue another anxiety driven James Bond 007 mission back through campus, TehDude shows us another secret of the grounds. An access road, overgrown beyond recognition, safely takes us through the woods and off the grounds and to the main road where our companions pick us up.