The Abandoned Forest Haven Asylum

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• published: 12 Jan 2015
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If there’s something I have learned from waking my happy ass up at 3 in the morning to venture hours away and photograph a location, aside from the proverbial ‘the early bird catches the worm,’ it would be that 4 in the morning, through the back roads of Ohio’s countryside yields no traffic…not a car for miles. This was a fairly constant thought during my first hour of driving the morning of this explore. Tucked deep within the mountainous woods of Maryland lays a former asylum, once home to thousands of the District's most mentally ill patients. Erected in 1925, this large 200 acre, 22-building compound would welcome some of the most mentally ill that the District of Columbia had to offer. As years passed, institutionalization became more of a last resort, and as treatment methods advanced, this particular selection of wards sat still, falling behind. In the 1960s, funding was drastically cut for this institution, and with recreation and athletic programs dropping nearly out of the picture, residents began to suffer. As population within the walls grew larger and larger, patients would wander empty, padded rooms unfit for any type of living as previously planned. Physical, mental and sexual harassment was running rampant through these living corridors and everything began to fall apart... More of this story and others like it can be found on my website at: Website - www.architecturalafterlife.com Music - www.soundcloud.com/5krapbrain Facebook - www.facebook.com/JohnnyJooPhotography