Norwich State Hospital

A Brief History: Located at 28 Laurel Hill Road in Preston, Connecticut, Norwich State Hospital was built in 1904 on 100 beautiful acres along the Thames River on a site that was an ancient Native American Village. It was nicknamed the Norwich State Hospital for the Insane; there were originally two buildings one for patients and a cottage for doctors. Over the years, more buildings were added and the property was expanded. At its peak, the property was over 470 acres and over 30 buildings, many of which were connected by underground tunnels. The hospital’s population started with a few dozen declared by the courts to be “criminally insane,” but the numbers grew quickly to hundreds of patients being treated here throughout most of the 1900's.

            The first tragedy related to the hospital was a patient who hanged himself in 1914. Many more unfortunate deaths would follow. A hot water heater exploded in 1919 killing two employees, another employee was killed trying to cross the road, and a nurse killed herself at her home, multiple patients died during their sentences or while undergoing treatment. Many more died shortly after release following a “successful” stay, usually in tragic or violent manners.

            One of the most notorious buildings was Salmon Hall, which was the maximum-security facility and where some of the most dangerous residents were kept. This was one of the hospital’s original buildings. It became a prison with bars over the windows, steel doors and cell-like rooms. It was witness to many severe incarcerations and unpleasant events until it was shut down in 1971.

            If the population at Norwich State Hospital wasn’t troubled enough, over the years there were multiple beatings, patients being starved, sexual abuses, harsh restraints, prolonged confinements and even the occasional patient being packed in ice.

            The Hospital was closed as a treatment facility in 1996 and its remaining patients were transferred to other facilities around the state. Since then, the gorgeous grounds and former buildings have sat abandoned as the state of Connecticut and the town of Preston has struggled to resolve what to do with the property. Because of its desirable location on the Thames right across from Mohegan Sun, numerous developers have been interested in it, but despite proposals for everything from a movie studio to a residential and commercial complex, no actual deal has come to pass. The cost to clean up the property is a fairly significant stumbling block to eventual development.

Haunted History: Because of the numerous horrors and untimely deaths, many believe the property to be haunted. It seems an especially active as essentially every kind of paranormal experience has been allegedly witnessed here, from reports of ghostly shapes and disembodied voices to creepy feelings, EVPs, doors slamming, and disembodied screaming. There have also been plenty of orbs and other unexplained mists reported.