One day when I had more important things to do, I sat in
front of my computer mindlessly clicking on YouTube videos. Eventually I
stumbled across this one. The simple two minute video evoked a craving
for adventure I hadn’t felt in a long time. Again, it was bittersweet because
seeing it on a computer screen just made me want to experience it in person all
the more. I began to look at more videos of abandoned places. I learned I wasn’t
alone in my strange craving, and that the people who actually went and took
those pictures and videos that so fascinated me are referred to as urban
explorers. All I had to do was search Google for “abandoned places in Maryland”
to find this site. I read about the various places on the list. There
were several abandoned hospitals, all of which looked interesting. I remember
sitting there on my couch and realizing that there was really nothing stopping
me from going out and visiting these places. An old abandoned psychiatric
hospital might not be Machu Picchu, but the kind of mysterious quality
surrounding these modern ruins was just as intriguing, and quite a bit more
ominous.
My best friend Rich showed immediate interest when I told
him about what I’d been researching. All that we needed to do now was pick the
site of our first urbexing experience. It didn’t take long to settle on Henryton State Hospital. A relic of segregation, Henryton was built to care for
Maryland’s black tuberculosis patients in 1922. Later converted into a hospital
for people with severe mental disabilities, it shut its doors permanently in
1985. It’s in a secluded area, and is easy to get to without being seen, which
has made it an easy target for vandals and teenaged pyromaniacs. We thought it would be a good place to get out feet wet, and see if urban exploration was for us.
We didn't really know what to expect when we went there. We brought some cheap respirators to protect against asbestos. And though both Rich's and my own worldview is governed by science (i.e. we don't believe in ghosts, spirits, etc.), we both jumped at the opportunity to carry weapons with us. We happened to see a shop whose sign read "Martial Arts Weapons." Rich bought a telescopic police baton. I went to the hardware and bought a crowbar; I felt like we might need to pry off a lock or two, but I'd be lying if I denied that it just feels cool to hold a crowbar. Weapons in hand, we got in the car and drove to Marriotsville.
We parked at a church and found the railroad tracks that lead right past Henryton. As we walked down the desolate tracks, it began to sleet.
What little human activity there was at the start of the tracks quickly dropped off to nothing as we walked along, a river on one side of us, and thick, deep woods on the other. We saw an old stone structure about a mile down.
We kept walking. Eventually we came across the old train tunnel that leads to Henryton. Seen from afar, it looks as if Rich is walking into an endless darkness.
We walked through the century old tunnel and came out on the other side to see an old abandoned power plant, and two modern looking utility trucks parked nearby. On closer inspection, we realized they were trucks from the railroad company. Not wanting a confrontation, we skirted the trucks by walking along a riverbank. When we poked our heads up and saw the drivers were nowhere to be seen, we went into the old power plant to get our bearings and take a few photos.
We continued up the path we had identified on our map. I saw a house at the top of the hill we were walking up and was dismayed at the realization that were heading the wrong way. But then a big SUV appeared about 100 yards in front of us and began closing the distance. Not knowing who it was, we concealed our baton and crowbar. The SUV pulled up along side of us and a middle aged man in what looked like hunting gear asked us in a rough British accent, "Hey, are you guys going up to that derelict place? It's fuckin' awesome! A couple holes in the floor, but nothin' to be afraid of!" Still giving us a drunken grin, the man sped off in his SUV before we could snap a picture. We were encouraged nonetheless, and proceeded up the old driveway to what was, in fact, Henryton State Hospital. We had never seen anything like it in our lives, and the first thing we did was walk to the center and take pictures of the main buildings.
We didn't know where to start. We saw other buildings that were begging to be explored, but the administration building, the red brick one with the broken tree in front, drew our attention first. When we climbed up the steps and looked inside, it became clear to us just how much asbestos there was in this place. Rich put on his respirator, but my glasses became fogged up every time I put mine on. It dawned on me that I was going to have to do this with no respirator. Fuck it, I thought, we didn't come all the way out here for nothing. We entered Henryton. Due to a bit of impulsiveness on our part, we didn't bring a camera. We had our iPhones, but taking our gloves off everytime we wanted to take a picture became quite annoying. Our documentation of the inside, therefore, is slightly lacking.
We explored every building that comprised the former hospital, which took us about four hours. There were a couple of high school-age kids there at one point, whom Rich and I successfully scared away by making loud noises at the appropriate time. Any place that was once populated and now lies in ruin is a bit creepy, and Henryton is no exception. It's easy to see how people predisposed to magical thinking could "see" ghosts in a place like this.
We left when it started to get dark. Exploring this crumbling, abandoned hospital gave us exactly what we were after: a sense of adventure. Two weeks later, we raised the stakes.
We parked at a church and found the railroad tracks that lead right past Henryton. As we walked down the desolate tracks, it began to sleet.
What little human activity there was at the start of the tracks quickly dropped off to nothing as we walked along, a river on one side of us, and thick, deep woods on the other. We saw an old stone structure about a mile down.
We kept walking. Eventually we came across the old train tunnel that leads to Henryton. Seen from afar, it looks as if Rich is walking into an endless darkness.
We walked through the century old tunnel and came out on the other side to see an old abandoned power plant, and two modern looking utility trucks parked nearby. On closer inspection, we realized they were trucks from the railroad company. Not wanting a confrontation, we skirted the trucks by walking along a riverbank. When we poked our heads up and saw the drivers were nowhere to be seen, we went into the old power plant to get our bearings and take a few photos.
 |
| Sorry about the shitty quality. I'm learning about photography as I go. |
 |
| This was the first real abandoned building Rich and I went in. |
We continued up the path we had identified on our map. I saw a house at the top of the hill we were walking up and was dismayed at the realization that were heading the wrong way. But then a big SUV appeared about 100 yards in front of us and began closing the distance. Not knowing who it was, we concealed our baton and crowbar. The SUV pulled up along side of us and a middle aged man in what looked like hunting gear asked us in a rough British accent, "Hey, are you guys going up to that derelict place? It's fuckin' awesome! A couple holes in the floor, but nothin' to be afraid of!" Still giving us a drunken grin, the man sped off in his SUV before we could snap a picture. We were encouraged nonetheless, and proceeded up the old driveway to what was, in fact, Henryton State Hospital. We had never seen anything like it in our lives, and the first thing we did was walk to the center and take pictures of the main buildings.
We didn't know where to start. We saw other buildings that were begging to be explored, but the administration building, the red brick one with the broken tree in front, drew our attention first. When we climbed up the steps and looked inside, it became clear to us just how much asbestos there was in this place. Rich put on his respirator, but my glasses became fogged up every time I put mine on. It dawned on me that I was going to have to do this with no respirator. Fuck it, I thought, we didn't come all the way out here for nothing. We entered Henryton. Due to a bit of impulsiveness on our part, we didn't bring a camera. We had our iPhones, but taking our gloves off everytime we wanted to take a picture became quite annoying. Our documentation of the inside, therefore, is slightly lacking.
Just for fun
Long hallways have an eerie quality about them.
View from the balcony
These are shots from the roof.
We explored every building that comprised the former hospital, which took us about four hours. There were a couple of high school-age kids there at one point, whom Rich and I successfully scared away by making loud noises at the appropriate time. Any place that was once populated and now lies in ruin is a bit creepy, and Henryton is no exception. It's easy to see how people predisposed to magical thinking could "see" ghosts in a place like this.
We left when it started to get dark. Exploring this crumbling, abandoned hospital gave us exactly what we were after: a sense of adventure. Two weeks later, we raised the stakes.
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