Essex County Psych Center Cedar Grove Township, New Jersey (Axis Video)
- 6 years ago
An older video that will be updated shortly
This was a very interesting visit....half the buildings were bulldozed...the others still standing but heavily secured and heavily patrolled....the police will arrest you for trespassing WITHOUT questions...so needless to say our ninja skills were excellent that night...we could not gain entry, but walked the ENTIRE perimeter and got many photos...There is a strict no trespassing policy at this location and the police patrol the premise every few minutes. The penalty is an arrest no questions asked, no tolerance. With this info in mind we crept around the property and each time we saw the lights from the patrol car we ducked into the shadows of the building and bushes. This facility is quite large and contains several buildings. We walked the perimeter of most of the buildings looking for a point to gain entry in, but everything was secured. Every few minutes a patrol car would circle the buildings and we had to duck into a dark alley, porch or behind tree to avoid detection. Many thrill seekers before us did the same thing but their intentions were not to document, they were to either party or to destroy. This behavior has made it difficult for us to simply explore and take videos and photos to document the various locations.
The history: The Essex County Hospital Center is a defunct psychiatric hospital that is located in the Township of Cedar Grove, New Jersey. The hospital was used as a normal hospital then converted to house mentally ill patients that were in need of care.
There is a designated Conservation Easement at the edge of the Hilltop Reservation set up in 2001 by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; this is now part of the Essex County Park System.
The city of Newark purchased this land in 1896 to build a new hospital to alleviate the overcrowded Hospital in Newark. In the late 1800's and early 1900's several buildings were built that housed patients that included a powerhouse, Laundromat and a theater. In 1917 the boilers failed during the winter and many patients froze to death in their beds. The tri-state mental correction board bought the land in the mid 1920's and converted it into a mental facility. The Asylum grew and added new wards until it abruptly closed its doors. It is estimated that approx 10,000 patients died before it closed. Overbrook was kept out of the public's view and knowledge and little evidence has been found to support the claims.
Just down the road the new Essex County Hospital Center opened in late 2006. This location housed psychiatric patients in need of longer lengths of stay than are available in community hospitals and medical centers. Taking a cutting edge approach to the way they treated their patients the programs stand in contrast to the ancient building that it replaced. As a side note the hospital was used as a location for the film CHOKE.
This was a very interesting visit....half the buildings were bulldozed...the others still standing but heavily secured and heavily patrolled....the police will arrest you for trespassing WITHOUT questions...so needless to say our ninja skills were excellent that night...we could not gain entry, but walked the ENTIRE perimeter and got many photos...There is a strict no trespassing policy at this location and the police patrol the premise every few minutes. The penalty is an arrest no questions asked, no tolerance. With this info in mind we crept around the property and each time we saw the lights from the patrol car we ducked into the shadows of the building and bushes. This facility is quite large and contains several buildings. We walked the perimeter of most of the buildings looking for a point to gain entry in, but everything was secured. Every few minutes a patrol car would circle the buildings and we had to duck into a dark alley, porch or behind tree to avoid detection. Many thrill seekers before us did the same thing but their intentions were not to document, they were to either party or to destroy. This behavior has made it difficult for us to simply explore and take videos and photos to document the various locations.
The history: The Essex County Hospital Center is a defunct psychiatric hospital that is located in the Township of Cedar Grove, New Jersey. The hospital was used as a normal hospital then converted to house mentally ill patients that were in need of care.
There is a designated Conservation Easement at the edge of the Hilltop Reservation set up in 2001 by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; this is now part of the Essex County Park System.
The city of Newark purchased this land in 1896 to build a new hospital to alleviate the overcrowded Hospital in Newark. In the late 1800's and early 1900's several buildings were built that housed patients that included a powerhouse, Laundromat and a theater. In 1917 the boilers failed during the winter and many patients froze to death in their beds. The tri-state mental correction board bought the land in the mid 1920's and converted it into a mental facility. The Asylum grew and added new wards until it abruptly closed its doors. It is estimated that approx 10,000 patients died before it closed. Overbrook was kept out of the public's view and knowledge and little evidence has been found to support the claims.
Just down the road the new Essex County Hospital Center opened in late 2006. This location housed psychiatric patients in need of longer lengths of stay than are available in community hospitals and medical centers. Taking a cutting edge approach to the way they treated their patients the programs stand in contrast to the ancient building that it replaced. As a side note the hospital was used as a location for the film CHOKE.