Belchertown State School was established in 1922 in Belchertown, MA. The school became known not long after for its poor treatment of patients and abuse. Located at 30 State Street, the school was built on over 800 acres of land and operated until December 31st, 1992 when its doors closed for good. The school had many lawsuits filed against them for the mistreatment and neglect of its patients. Patients who were handicapped would be kept in their beds for the whole day without seeing anything except the walls of their hospital rooms, and other residents would be left rolling around in their own feces, naked. What used to be a school that helped aid mentally retarded kids, adults, and the handicapped later turned to a place of torture, sadness, and anguish.
We visited the now abandoned school on a cold and rainy April day (of last month). The rain wasn't stopping us from admiring the many buildings on the piece of property. We explored for about 40 minutes before we decided to get back into the car and drive around to see if the weather would get any nicer. However, it continued to rain and we ended up having to head home. The school itself was absolutely jaw-dropping. Just walking past a building would make you gag because of the amount of mold and decay that was happening inside its walls. Other than that though, it was definitely one of my favorite places to visit.
Sadly (and extremely frustrating) they are planning to start demolishing the buildings this very week (5/4/15). This annoys me to no end. The buildings should be kept up due to how historical they really are. We are planning to visit again before they are all torn down but as of now, lets say goodbye to a once beautiful and historic school. May your memories live on.
We visited the now abandoned school on a cold and rainy April day (of last month). The rain wasn't stopping us from admiring the many buildings on the piece of property. We explored for about 40 minutes before we decided to get back into the car and drive around to see if the weather would get any nicer. However, it continued to rain and we ended up having to head home. The school itself was absolutely jaw-dropping. Just walking past a building would make you gag because of the amount of mold and decay that was happening inside its walls. Other than that though, it was definitely one of my favorite places to visit.
Sadly (and extremely frustrating) they are planning to start demolishing the buildings this very week (5/4/15). This annoys me to no end. The buildings should be kept up due to how historical they really are. We are planning to visit again before they are all torn down but as of now, lets say goodbye to a once beautiful and historic school. May your memories live on.