A circular network of roads connected the buildings. All patients that remained were moved to Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut. Some later constructed buildings were built during the 1940s and 1950s. Stories of … These tunnels made it efficient to transport patients between treatments and laboratories, confinement rooms, operating rooms, and in the unfortunate cases, the morgue. It opened on October 11, 2014. Dedicated to a common development theme, the institutional buildings were of a modified colonial style, built of red brick and attractively accented. Due to access issues, the tunnels were sealed or destroyed by the town starting in 2009. The Town of Newtown rented out the first floor of Canaan House fro… Across from Bridgeport Hall is the former Kent House, used for patient treatment and housing. At its peak, the hospital could hold 4,000 patients, but the ratio of patient-to-doctor had always been an issue with the facility. The entire facility was owned and operated by the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health. Mar 24, 2017 - Explore Laurie Howard's board "Fairfield Hills Newtown Ct. 2", followed by 220 people on Pinterest. And across the road from Stamford Hall is Plymouth Hall, which contained a gym, a chapel, and a bowling alley. The hospital opened and received its first patients on June 1, 1933,[2] from Connecticut Valley Hospital. [5] In the first year that psychosurgery was performed at Fairfield Hills over 100 patients were treated. The facility still stands, just southeast of the center of Newtown. With the exception of Cochran House, they were named after Fairfield and Litchfield County cities and towns. I should note that I enjoyed my American Psychological Association approved internship and was pleased with the training and experiences that I received from the … When Fairfield State Hospital was built, it was a crown jewel of mental institutions. Extremely haunted, with a large number of deaths due to 'unknown causes' 278). Al suo apice, l'ospedale ospitava oltre 4.000 pazienti. Today, most buildings on the campus are abandoned and not maintained, with warning signs to keep back from them. When my brother was at Fairfield Hills, he was drugged up and put through many different kinds "therapy". This was not a place of rehabilitation, but more a place of experimentation. It includes over 50 large brick buildings located on over 100 acres with underground tunnels connecting the buildings. The entire property is open to the public, and exploration of the grounds is encouraged, although any vacant buildings are off limits. The Fairfield Hills State Hospital opened in 1931, with brick Georgian style buildings spread across 770 bucolic acres. The public vote, which could set in motion a formal public process to approve a zone change on the 185-acre campus or rule out housing at Fairfield Hills for the foreseeable future, comes as the town pursues its long-term plan to transform the former psychiatric hospital into the civic and cultural center of Newtown. These tunnels were mostly used to move patients and equipment between the buildings, especially during the winter months and on bad weather days. At its peak, the hospital housed over 4,000 patients. The Town of Newtown established the Fairfield Hills Authority, a municipal development agency, to implement new construction on the site. Bridgeport Hall, which once contained the food services of Fairfield Hills State Hospital, serves as the offices of the town, including the city’s tax office, the Board of Education, Planning and Zoning departments, and other functions. The facility still stands, just southeast of the center of Newtown. The entire facility was owned and operated by the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health. She is the author of, Street Artist KAWS Gets Brooklyn Museum Exhibition, Dine with Celebrity Wax Figures at Peter Luger Steakhouse, A Lost Modernist Mural Returned to the MetLife Building, abandoned hospitals in the New York City area, 10 Hidden Places in NYC’s Grand Central Terminal, The Top 10 Secrets About NYC’s Co-op City, NYC Film Locations for Billions on Showtime, The Filming Locations for The Sinner Season 3. All patients that remained were moved to Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown.[4]. It was dedicated on November 21, 2009, and is now called the Newtown Municipal Center.[8]. The three-story building with three connected wings was one of the largest in the facility. In its prime, the campus would have had the architectural feel of an Ivy League campus, but hosting 4,000 patients within. In one of the doctors’ houses along Washington Square is home to the Newtown Parent Connection, an organization that supports families dealing with the substance abuse of a loved one. During its operation, treatments at Fairfield Hills included hydrotherapy, insulin shock therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and frontal lobotomy. We felt, and still do, that this is a most important collection, which will prove indispensable to any future history of the hospital. Fairfield Hills State Hospital 8-06 It was not long after the state emptied the buildings of it`s mental hospital in Newtown,Connecticut that the abandoned asylum attracted the attention of both Hollywood and ghost seekers. Opened in 1933, Fairfield Hills was touted as the latest and greatest in the treatment of people whose “minds have become deranged with strange fancies, and who have lost control over their thoughts and emotions.” On June 10, 1931, the cornerstone was laid for the Fairfield State Hospital (renamed to Fairfield Hills Hospital in 1963 per P.A. In 2009, the town started converting some of the buildings for administrative use, with additional plans to add recreational and cultural facilities. Additionally, the tunnels were used to convey food from the central cafeteria (Bridgeport Hall) for patients confined to their residence buildings. On December 8, 1995 the facility was closed and patients were transferred to the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut. We offer here a description of the contents, giving some idea of the scope of the papers. At its peak, Fairfield Hills housed 4,000 patients and employed 3,000 to care for them and perform ancillary services. At its peak, the hospital housed over 4,000 patients. If you would like to speak to someone about the use of the campus for a group event or activity at the campus you may call the Land Use office at 203-270-4276. 649 were here. I have never heard anyone refer to it as anything else, and have lived in the area for many years. The Town of Newtown acquired the former Fairfield Hills Hospital property from the State of Connecticut in 2004. By the late 1960s Fairfield Hills housed more than 4,000 patients, 20 doctors, 50 nurses, and 100 assorted other employees. At its peak, the hospital housed over 4,000 patients. With the high cost of running underused hospitals, state hospitals around the country shut their doors. has built a new $4.5 Million Ambulance facility on the Campus. The most popular reason why people come to visit is the paranormal activity in the area. Along the front facade, behind fencing, are three architectural cupolas now sitting on the ground that once belonged to Shelton House. Untapped New York unearths New York City’s secrets and hidden gems. The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps. The Fairfield Hills State Hospital opened in 1931, with brick Georgian style buildings spread across 770 bucolic acres. Simply fill out the attached Speaker Form and mail it or drop it off to the Fairfield Hills Campus Office at the Newtown Municipal Center, #3 Primrose Street, Newtown, CT 06470. The entire facility was owned and operated by the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health. Doctors, nurses, and other various workers also used the tunnels, and when required, even corpses were transported through them to the on-campus morgue. The entire facility was owned and operated by the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health. A majority of the staff and utility buildings, along with all of the patient buildings were connected by a series of concrete tunnels. In the mid to late 1960s, Dr Grossman began helping orthopedic surgeons at Fairfield Hills do hip nailing surgeries, on broken hips. Flickr photos, groups, and tags related to the "fairfieldhillshospital" Flickr tag. Mental Hospital located in Newtown, Connecticut which closed in 1995. When you enter Newtown Municipal Center from Wasserman Way, the first building you’ll come across is Shelton House, currently unoccupied but was originally an administration building and used for patient care. In Episode 134, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger drive up to the remains of Fairfield Hills Mental Hospital in Newtown, Connecticut. Fairfield State Hospital (as it was known from 1929 to 1963) or Fairfield Hills Hospital (as it was known after 1963) was a psychiatric hospital in Newtown, Connecticut, which operated from 1931 until 1995. A curved driveway off the Keating Farms Avenue provides a ceremonial entrance to this building, which was clearly designed with extra care. [2] The campus was constructed largely fireproof throughout. Deinstitutionalization, a major shift in approach to psychiatric care, began in the 1960s, and led to the widespread closure of many psychiatric institutions like Fairfield Hills State Hospital. This calls for reserving a major portion of the property for municipal and cultural use, as well as passive and active recreational use. 2 talking about this. However, the campus does still contain walking trails and paths for the public[6] and a new building has been built on the site called the Newtown Youth Academy. In spite of the fact that the living no longer dwell here, it is said that numerous phantoms freque Fairfield State Hospital (as it was known from 1929 to 1963) or Fairfield Hills Hospital (as it was known after 1963) was a psychiatric hospital in Newtown, Connecticut, which operated from 1931 until 1995. Il Fairfield State Hospital (come era noto dal 1929 al 1963) o Fairfield Hills Hospital (dopo il 1963) era un ospedale psichiatrico situato a Newtown, nel Connecticut, che operò dal 1931 al 1995. In Newtown, Connecticut stands the ruins of a stately psychiatric hospital. Walking trails and baseball fields have been newer additions, along with the construction of a few new buildings. We explore an old hospital and find lots of strange markings and lots of activity we get totally spooked !! I believe that suicide would not have been his fate, if it weren't for how he was treated and neglected there, at Fairfield Hills. Next, check out 10 abandoned hospitals around NYC. Its front portico, containing four Corinthian columns topped by a pediment, is in a serious state of decay but its original grandeur is still evident. A major portion of the land on the 185-acre Fairfield Hills campus has been reserved for municipal and cultural use, as well as passive and active recreational use. The Reed Intermediate School is also located on the property, as well as a youth academy and the new community center. In its prime, the campus … See more ideas about newtown, abandoned places, fairfield. In 1995, Gov. A motion picture adaptation of The Madman's Tale was to be filmed on the property between October 26, 2007 and January 8, 2008, however, due to the "family and legal troubles" of lead actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers, production was stopped before filming began. Like many other psychiatric facilities across the country, all the buildings were connected by tunnel. Today, the Town of Newtown and other organizations occupy a few buildings within the former campus that is now known as the Newtown Municipal Center. In December of 2012 the Newtown Historical Society purchased an archive relating to Fairfield State Hospital, what we know as Fairfield Hills. In December, 2012, the Society purchased an archive relating to Fairfield State Hospital, what we know as Fairfield Hills. The acreage consisted of large farm meadows and a forest. Fairfield Hills Hospital – The Filming Location of the $165 Million Dollar Movie Sleepers August 8, 2017 Nikola Petrovski Known as the Fairfield State Hospital, it came to exist due to overcrowding the rest of the local hospitals were faced with. The entire facility was owned and operated by the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health. Walter P. Crabtree Sr., designed the campus-like facility. Newtown Hall was also an administration building. As you might expect, Fairfield Hills was typical in its treatment of the mentally ill—electric shock therapy, hydrotherapy, psycho-surgery and frontal lobotomies were common early on, resulting in a few suicides and “mysterious” deaths. At its peak, the hospital housed over 4,000 patients. While Newtown officials view Fairfield Hills as the town's jewel, its reputation outside of town is more ominous. The entire facility was owned and operated by the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health. On June 7, 2001, the voters at a Town Meeting approved the purchase of the former Fairfield Hills Hospital from the State of Connecticut. We are the only AAHA accredited veterinary clinic in Fairfield County. The tunnels provided an accessible path for a major portion of the underground water, telephone, heat and electric power grid. Michelle is the founder of Untapped New York. Fairfield Hills State Hospital. Fairfield Hills State Hospital was a state run mental health facility in Connecticut that was opened to alleviate the overcrowding in other asylums. Fairfield State Hospital was created due to overcrowding at the other two state hospitals. Like a handful of abandoned hospitals in the New York City area like Kings Park and Letchworth Village, Fairfield Hills State Hospital has become accessible to the public since its conversion into the town’s municipal center. At its peak, the hospital housed over 4,000 patients. Due to the increasing safety concerns, illegal trespassing, and vandalism to buildings by parties attempting to gain access to the tunnels, the tunnels were sealed by the Town of Newtown in 2009. The Town of Newtown rented out the first floor of Canaan House from the mid-1990s up until 2005; it was home to the town's Board of Education, Planning & Zoning, and Fire Marshall. In the hospital’s heyday, a total of 7,000 psychiatric patients and hospital staff lived on campus. The Fairfield (or Fairfield Hills) State Hospital, in some cases just alluded to as Fairfield Hills, is a deserted old mental foundation for the intellectually as well as criminally crazy situated in Newton, Connecticut. It quickly became a terrifying place for inmates, who still haunt the grounds. Included in this detour was a one-year clinical psychology internship in 1975 at Fairfield Hills Hospital in Newtown, Connecticut. On my way to becoming a social psychologist, I took a detour as a clinical psychologist. Discover the city’s most unique and surprising places and events for the curious mind. At its peak, the hospital housed over 4,000 patients. It was paid for by private funders and features an indoor turf field, basketball court, and full workout center. 71.88.34.212 18:32, 15 April 2013 (UTC) External links modified. We felt, and still do, that this is a most important collection, which will prove indispensable to any future history of the hospital. The following are the main campus buildings of Fairfield Hills. Hello fellow Wikipedians, I have just modified 2 external links on Fairfield Hills Hospital. Then, because he was conveniently located in Newtown, he was asked to do general surgery for Fairfield Hills patients. But some of the largest buildings loom in their abandoned state behind fencing. [2] The records from Fairfield Hills Hospital are located in RG 021, subgroup 7 at the Connecticut State Library & Archives in restricted files arranged into three series:[3], Due to deinstitutionalization in the 1960s and 1970s, there was less of a need for hospitals like Fairfield Hills. With the high cost of running underused hospitals, state hospitals around the country shut their doors. Patients were usually very cooperative,” he said. One of CT's 3 state hospitals, Fairfield Hills State Hospital was open from 1933-1995 in Newtown. [9], "Finding Guide: RG 021:007, Fairfield Hills Hospital Inventory of Records", "Proposal to Shut Two Mental Hospitals Advances", Master Plan for the Fairfield Hills Campus, Inside the Asylum - Danbury Newstimes article on Urban Exploration, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fairfield_Hills_Hospital&oldid=1004839894, Buildings and structures in Newtown, Connecticut, Short description is different from Wikidata, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health, Newtown Hall – administration building: telephone switchboard, Greenwich House – offices and medical hospital, Shelton House – administration and patient care, Plymouth Hall – chapel, theater, gymnasium, bowling alley and workshops, Power Plant – electricity and steam heat for buildings, Stratford Hall – library; formerly the lunch-time cafeteria for commuting workers, additional building(s) for the central laundry, dairy farm, bakery and incinerator, This page was last edited on 4 February 2021, at 17:24. [7], The Town of Newtown selected Bridgeport Hall as the location for its new municipal offices. A stone central facade, seen in no other building, grounds the symmetrical building which from a distance could be mistaken for a great British estate. Fairfield State Hospital (as it was known from 1929 to 1963) or Fairfield Hills Hospital (as it was known after 1963) was a psychiatric hospital in Newtown, Connecticut, which operated from 1931 until 1995. Nearby on the same side of the road is Stratford Hall, once the library and a cafeteria for a time. Just behind it is the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, located in a new building designed in the architectural style of the campus. The advantage of having these people in … Fairfield State Hospital (as it was known from 1929 to 1963) or Fairfield Hills Hospital (as it was known after 1963) was a psychiatric hospital in Newtown, Connecticut, which operated from 1931 until 1995. There were initially fewer than 500 patients, and only 3 doctors. But public resistance to housing at Fairfield Hills has been consistent since the town took the property over with plans to transform it into Newtown’s civic and cultural center. Possibly the creepiest remaining building is Stamford Hall, a building that once served as employee dorms. After closure in 1995, the property lay vacant for more than a decade, and despite some reuse, many buildings remain untouched since its last residents were moved to other facilities. John Rowland closed Fairfield Hills and its sister hospital, Norwich State Hospital. Fairfield State Hospital (as it was known from 1929 to 1963) or Fairfield Hills Hospital (as it was known after 1963) was a psychiatric hospital in Newtown, Connecticut, which operated from 1931 until 1995. In 1995, Gov. Due to deinstitutionalization in the '60s and '70s, there was less of a need for hospitals like Fairfield Hills. The entire facility was owned and operated by the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health. Loaded with cops because of the people who try to sneak in. Fairfield Hills State Hospital closed in 1995 and the Town of Newtown purchased the property in 2004. At its peak, the hospital housed over 4,000 patients. Fairfield State Hospital (as it was known from 1929 to 1963) or Fairfield Hills Hospital (as it was known after 1963) was a psychiatric hospital in Newtown, Connecticut, which operated from 1931 until 1995. Fairfield State Hospital (as it was known from 1929 to 1963) or Fairfield Hills Hospital (as it was known after 1963)[1] was a psychiatric hospital in Newtown, Connecticut, which operated from 1931 until 1995. I think the name of this article should be changed to Fairfield Hills State Hospital. John Rowland closed Fairfield Hills and its sister hospital, Norwich State Hospital. All access ways leading to the tunnels were welded and / or boarded shut. After all, it has gained a reputation as one of the most haunted places in the state. Fairfield Hills State Hospital is a bucolic place, but it has a dark and ugly past. During demolition of certain buildings, to pave way for a recreation center, some tunnels were filled in to level the ground. Dec 14, 2018 - Discover Fairfield Hills Hospital in Newtown, Connecticut: This abandoned psychiatric hospital once housed more than 4,000 patients in the middle of a … The hospital contained 16 buildings on 100 acres (40 ha), plus another 670 acres (270 ha) of land around them. The facility was pleasing to the eyes from the outside, but within its walls unspeakable acts were taking place.