Utica State Hospital

Utica State Hospital is known for its eerie ghost stories. The hospital first opened back in 1843 and it was the first state-run hospital that treated the mentally ill. It was formerly known as the New York State Lunatic Asylum and was considered a state of the art facility during the time it first oepned.

What went on inside the walls of the Asylum were not caring, however. The location was the site of regularly performed lobotomies and electroshock therapy given by facilitators. The patients who resided there lived in filth and were forced to stay confined in cramed spaces with little to no care. It was at this hospital where doctors invented the Utica Crib, an inhuman, long, shallow cage where they kept agitated people to calm them down or to punish misbehaving residents.

The hospital closed in 1973, however, the "Old Main" building still stands to this day. Some of the hauntings that have been said to take place here include faces looking out the windows and screams that can be heard coming from the abandoned building. The location is mostly off-limits, however, there are occasional ghost tours that take place for those interested in checking the asylum out.