Location:

Status: Demolished

If one was to do a search on the net for pictures of Byberry back in 2003, only a few sites that have an actual variety will come up. This is what I did when I wanted to find information on Byberry. I viewed the pictures that were available and I was VERY impressed with what I saw and became anxious to pay this gigantic abandoned mental hospital a visit for myself and bring back pictures of my own. This was one exploration trip I was glad I went on.

I won’t delve too deeply into the history of Byberry, but it can’t hurt to just give you a brief overview. Byberry opened in 1912 and its purpose was to care for mentally ill people who could live full, productive lives. It housed over 6500 patients and consisted of more than 30 patient buildings and many more buildings used for maintenance and various other purposes, totalling around 80 buildings at one time. As time went by, it became like many other institutions–overcrowded, poor conditions, and a neglectful and abusive staff. There was one investigation after another, and in 1982 it was condemned to be closed because of the unspeakable things that went on there, but didn’t shut its doors until 1990. There are 32 buildings left on the land after some were demolished and is a popular spot for rowdy kids and urban explorers alike. Unfortunately, what remains of Byberry is marked for demolition in 2006.

In the spring of 2003, I took a trip with some fellow explorers from various sites like this one. What an adventure! We drove the roads that wound around the outside of the property where the sad, crumbling buildings of Byberry stood, wary of the location of the security trackers the whole time and it was plain to see that it would take DAYS to explore every building. We’re told that there are still things such as a children’s ward that we did not find.

It was extremely dark inside the buildings and most of the time, I just let the flash on my camera lead the way. A lot of my pictures turned out crooked or just plain bad, so now, you know why. You’ve been warned. A lot of “orbs” are present in my pictures, but I am of the belief that these “orbs” are just dust particles. I find it funny, though, that these “orbs” seem to turn up in pictures of patient rooms and dorms, cafeterias, day rooms and other places where patients congregated and not tunnels and hallways used for maintenance with the same lighting conditions and same amount of dust. Photography experts out there, this is where I welcome your input.

Byberry was completely TRASHED. Every window, mirror, and other miscellaneous piece of glass in every building we explored was broken. In fact, wherever we walked, we heard the “crunch crunch” of the two inch layer of broken glass under our feet. As we walked, we were entertained by the interesting graffiti that covered every wall and ceiling. Even if I WANTED to take a can of spraypaint (not that I would, so don’t jump down my throat here) and add my own contribution to the mess, I wouldn’t have been able to find a blank space big enough.

I found great excitement in finding BRAINS on this trip. That’s right, folks, your esteemed webmistress had the pleasure of walking around with BRAINS in her pocket. You see, on a previous trip, John and Rob, while exploring a laboratory of sorts next to the morgue, discovered a drawer filled with water. There was SOMETHING in the water on the bottom of this drawer, so they reached in and pulled out some microscope slides. They had labels on them such as “cerebral cortex” and other things that would indicate that these dust and asbestos covered gems were brain matter. I don’t usually take souvenirs from these places, but knowing that Byberry would be demolished soon anyway and that other people would just destroy them prompted me to take a few for myself. Scared the bejesus out of my mother with them, I’ll tell you that much.

It was as disturbing as much as finding brains was exciting to find documents that reported of an employee attempting to rape a resident. We were investigating a dark, stinky room filled with drenched paperwork when we came across this document. In fact, it was right on top of the pile of the source of the stench. For legal reasons, I will not make this document available for viewing on this site. Sorry.

While I’m talking about the nasty paper filled room, I’d like to mention that the hallway that led us this room was creepy as creepy gets. We went to Byberry on Saturday (it’s now Wednesday as I write this) and every time I close my eyes, I’m back in that hallway again. On a return visit to Byberry, I’m not so sure I’d actually WANT to go back there. Disturbing, I say. It was just as creepy to have to find our way through the catacombs to get from one building to another. Okay, so the catacombs aren’t actually REAL catacombs with dead bodies in them or anything, they’re only tiny, dark tunnels with pipes running through them. If you’re claustrophobic, it’s not fun at all.

While at Byberry, we found not one, but TWO auditoriums. One was a small auditorium which probably had about 100 seats while the other larger one had about 250 seats. What they used these auditoriums for, I can’t imagine. We also found the morgue and the autopsy room, which were quite a trip to explore. Not much was left of either room, but it was still interesting. What bugged me out, personally, was the solitary confinement rooms–slightly bigger than a bathroom with just a tiny window in the door big enough to peer through. One of them still even has the rubber mattress in it and a person’s name on the board outside the door. It made ME shudder, that’s for sure.

There’s SO much more I could say about Byberry, but for now, I’d like to leave you to look at the pictures. More pictures to come.

- Ember, from the first trip in 2003 (revised)