Occupational Therapy

Occupational Therapy was an intrical part of Northern State Hospital practices.

Here a patient shows off his talents 60 years ago.

Totally Candid

These are some candid stills from some home movies that Doc Jones filmed at the hospital farm during the 1950s.

Here you see the farm come to life as improvement were being made to existing structures. Today those same buildings sit in varying degrees of decay. It’s  fun to see them when they were new!

Branding of the Northern State Hospital Herd

These are some stills taken from the private home movie of NSH superintendant Dr. Charles Jones during the 1950s.
Here you see one of the hospital cattle being branded.

Northern State Hospital, by Jeanie Bennett-Packer, is on sale now through Createspace, Amazon and in stock at Village Books, The Tattered Page Bookstore and the Sedro-Woolley Museum.

Norlum

These are the last remnants of the train tracks at Northern State Hospital. Back in the teens of the 20th century, railroad is how the first patients were brought to the campus. These tracks now sit in back of where the steam plant is today. Back then, patients were loaded into train cars ( normally at night when it was less crowded) and taken from Western State Hospital to here – the new state hospital. Shortly after this began, some train passengers began complaining about having to ride the same train as mental patients, and then other forms of transport were made during the 1920s. When the patients arrived they were escorted down a tree covered trail (by lantern light if they came at night) to the receiving ward and admitted to the hospital. This was done before proper roadways were made. Norlum was an abbreviation for Northern Asylum.

Northern State Hospital, by Jeanie Bennett-Packer, is on sale now through Createspace, Amazon and in stock at Village Books, The Tattered Page Bookstore and the Sedro-Woolley Museum.

The 101 Year Celebration Tour

Here you are at the 101 year celebration tour!

The NSH Farm Ward

I was just going through some documents about the hospital and discovered some info about the hospital farm. I thought I would share…
Just like out at the Western State Hospital farm (now Steilacoom Park), I never knew that there was a seasonal ward for patients working on the farm during crop season at NSH.  Out at Western State, the ward was called, the hill ward.  Later on, it became known as “the ruins”. 
This picture of Northern State’s farm ward was taken between the 1940s and 1950s.
So remember…the hospital farm isn’t just a great place to throw a frisbee ~ it’s also tangible history!
Northern State Hospital, by Jeanie Bennett-Packer, is on sale through Createspace, Amazon and in stock at Village Books, The Tattered Page Bookstore and the Sedro-Woolley Museum.

An odd Occurrence While at the Celebration

Yesterday I had the opportunity along with so many of you, to join in on the 101 year celebration of Northern State Hospital.
My family and I did not arrive  until after 9:30 a.m. (victims of freeway construction in Seattle) by that point the festivities had been going on for a little while.
As I got settled in, and was talking to the author of, Forgotten Places, I sent my daughter and son around to start taking pictures of the Hub.
Very shortly, they reported to me that neither of their cellphones would taking any pictures, they both just froze up….
I an the other author just looked at them strangely, then I gave them my phone and told them to go to work.
Again, a few minutes later they came back and said that my phone was doing the same thing, only, not only would my phone NOT take any pictures, but the battery completely drained in it too. 
My husband then took my phone out to the car and charged it for an hour, and then it worked fine.
I’m not claiming something paranormal took place, I’m just something odd did.

Northern State Hospital, by Jeanie Bennett-Packer, is on sale now through Createspace, Amazon and in stock at Village Books, The Tattered Page Bookstore and the Sedro-Woolley Museum.

Debatable

In the very beginning of my exploration of Northern State Hospital during the mid 70s I began to see things that were a bit unsettling. Things that caused me debatable concern. I knew what this place was when we first arrived. I listened to plenty of firsthand accounts from workers that had been there in some facet or another since the late 40s and early 50’s. The stories were compelling, amazing and in some ways downright astonishing. I was regaled with tales of the doctor in the 1960s that had a pet monkey, a very destructive monkey that tore apart the staff quarters his master was assigned to, and was later forced to live in the morgue after the little critter did a memorable job on the plumbing system of the house. (This has to be the same mischievous primate I heard about at the Tulip Festival.) I also heard about the patient who believed he was of European nobility, and had his own private room down in the tunnel system under the steam plant. Evidence of that was still there when I was a child. I recall seeing peeling magazine pictures of the royal family barely clinging to the walls in his former quite space.  All of this enchanted me and caused me to want to find out more.

Some of my discoveries were not so enchanting though, and that was the evidence of children. Officially I have always been told that there were none. Unofficially is a different story. However, even as of 2006 there were childlike murals painted on the walls in one of the buildings. Then there was also the cribs. Whenever I’ve inquired about them in an official capacity, I’ve been told that a daycare was in operation at the hospital during the early 70s. But the cribs look institutional, like ones that are used in hospitals.

So I guess the debate goes on…

Northern State Hospital, by Jeanie Bennett-Packer, is on sale now through Createspace, Amazon and in stock at Village Books, The Tattered Page Bookstore and the Sedro-Woolley Museum.

Now

Here’s a little teaser to set your excitement into overdrive for the 101 year celebration on the 14th of this month…

This is the entrance to the site of where the hospital mansion once sat.  I took this pic last spring. Just small columns and bits of the old fence line remain now. Just one of the things you might see!