Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Urban exploration in Missouri
piplnr65656
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Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by piplnr65656 »

I realy hate to share but I have made a list of places to explore in the near future. I think 2 of these places have been torn down and/or rebuilt into condos recently and I was looking for any info as some of these places are close to kansas city and St. louis so the odds of them not being explored and documented are nill. Urban explorers tend to hord info but I was going to share.

1. Haunted insane asylum in florisant. Many people have reported hearing music and seeing glowing red orbs floating around inside the place.

2. Insane asylum near waynesville.

3. Old freeman hospital in joplin.

4. abandoned mental asylum in boynton.

5. Old fellows insane asylum in liberty. This place is supposed to be high on the freaky meter.

6. Insane asylum in ray town. This place may be torn down but I think only part of it was.

7. St. Louis old city hospital. I am pretty sure this place is no more.
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Re: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by HMndnproud »

If you get to go to any of these places be sure to get pictures.
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RE: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by Willard »

Actually if I remember right Mindscape told me that the old Freeman Hospital in Joplin is at the moment being turned into apartments.

Also I'm a member of the Odd Fellows and the place in Liberty was never an insane asylum. It was strictly a home for widows and ophins. No one has used it since the Odd Fellows closed it.

And last I knew, the old City Hospital in St. Louis was torn down back in the fall.
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Re: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by HMndnproud »

There's an Odd Fellows home in a town near where I grew up, I always wondered why they were called Odd Fellows homes?
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Re: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by Willard »

HMndnproud wrote:There's an Odd Fellows home in a town near where I grew up, I always wondered why they were called Odd Fellows homes?
First of all where was that? And to answer the second part, the organization is called the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (you may have seen the initials IOOF on the fronts of buildings where current or former halls are/were). The organization has always been abriviated as IOOF or Odd Fellows and part of our charge is to care for the widow and orphan. So, like the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows built a series of homes across the US so they could take care of the widows and orphens. This was all back before social security. The way we got our name is another story.
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Re: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by HMndnproud »

Willard wrote:
HMndnproud wrote:There's an Odd Fellows home in a town near where I grew up, I always wondered why they were called Odd Fellows homes?
First of all where was that? And to answer the second part, the organization is called the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (you may have seen the initials IOOF on the fronts of buildings where current or former halls are/were). The organization has always been abriviated as IOOF or Odd Fellows and part of our charge is to care for the widow and orphan. So, like the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows built a series of homes across the US so they could take care of the widows and orphens. This was all back before social security. The way we got our name is another story.

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Re: RE: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

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Willard wrote:
Also I'm a member of the Odd Fellows and the place in Liberty was never an insane asylum. It was strictly a home for widows and ophins. No one has used it since the Odd Fellows closed it.
Thank you for the info. I hate making a long drive to check something out only to arrive and find it had been turned into apartments. We drove up to mobery to check out that place there only to find it had recently been turned into condos.

I have read from several sources that the building served as a insane asylum, hospital and as a home for the elderly, ophins and widows. I was wondering if maby this place started out as one thing and progressed to the others over time and the odd fellows were the last ones or if maby they sponserd the entire thing like how the shriners do burn and orthopaedic centers. I don't know I was just throwing out ideas.

So the place dose still exist though? The photo I found was a little outdated.
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RE: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by Willard »

The place does exist but I don't know if it's being used currently for anything... last I heard it was abandoned.

Here is an artical I found:

Originally the Reed Springs Hotel, a three-story frame building with three towers on the roof, occupied the site (on the present highway 291). A long oval racetrack was in front of the hotel. There were 108 rooms, with wall to wall carpeting. The dining room, with a seating capacity of 175, was equipped with sterling silver and linen tablecloths and napkins.

The hotel was built in 1888 by financial interests in St. Louis. The site was chosen because of mineral springs there. They were discovered about the same time as those at Excelsior Springs, 15 miles away. Iron, sulphosaline, soda and lithia waters were discovered.

Guests came from all over the United States. Among them was a young fellow who later became grand master of the Odd Fellows, Dr. F.H. Matthews. In poor health, he had gone to the Reed Springs Hotel for its healing waters. His health restored, he married a young Liberty woman and remained in Liberty to practice medicine. He later was physician at the Odd Fellows Home for 23 years.

All utilities, including heat, water and light, were provided from the hotel's own plants. At that time, Liberty had no utilities.

In 1891 Willard E. Winner, well known promoter, bought the Reed Springs Hotel, with 12 acres of farm land, and changed the name to the Winner Hotel. There was a real estate boom at the time and Mr. Winner bought hundreds of acres of land, and many business buildings. Several businesses sprang up south of the hotel, including two livery stables and blacksmith and leather shops. In the depression that followed, Mr. Winner lost all of his investments by foreclosure.

The purchase of the hotel by the Odd Fellows, for a home for widows and orphans of the members, included 12 acres of farm land and an option on 230 additional acres. The lodge had discussed the need for a home since 1883, according to the records of the late H.F. Simrall, long time Liberty clothing merchant and grand master of the lodge for many years. The dedication of the home was May 24, 1895.

Five years later the home was destroyed by fire. At the time there were 300 residents. New buildings, such as the one pictured, were erected. A hospital with a fifty-bed capacity was built in 1951. Today the facility still is in operation as a nursing home.

Kansas City Times May 21, 1982

Odd Fellows Home
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RE: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by memory_machine »

Just an FYI: The St. Louis City Hospital wasn't torn down (well, only one of the buildings was), it was renovated and made into loft apartments.
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Re: RE: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

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memory_machine wrote:Just an FYI: The St. Louis City Hospital wasn't torn down (well, only one of the buildings was), it was renovated and made into loft apartments.
Thank you, that was the other one I was not sure about.

Ok people that leaves 5 places that are known and accounted for. The bad part is they are all about 2.5-3 hours from springfield. The boynton asylum looks very easy to get to and the florissant one is simple too. Who is up for a field trip?
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Re: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

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I'm up for boynton asylum after april 15th sometime.
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Re: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by Chris »

Florissant as in north St. Louis suburb? I didn't know there was an asylum there....
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Re: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

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Chris wrote:Florissant as in north St. Louis suburb? I didn't know there was an asylum there....
Well I am not quiet sure. When I look up the roads in the directions I get a place that is near Jennings just north of I-70 off of exit 242. Dose this sound familer to any of you st.louis guys?
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RE: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by Chris »

Sure does. I'll have to 'Google Earth' it. Google Earth rocks.
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RE: Asylums and hospitals to check out.

Post by memory_machine »

I have heard my dad talking about that place, but I wasn't sure that it was still around. I'll have to get clarification as to where it actually is.
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