A photo of what appears to be a straitjacket lying on a bed next to a window. The image was found in the archives of Northern State Hospital at the Washington State Archives in Olympia.
Washington State Archives
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Washington State Archives
A photo of what appears to be a straitjacket lying on a bed next to a window. The image was found in the archives of Northern State Hospital at the Washington State Archives in Olympia.
Washington State Archives
A few hours north of Seattle, Washington, there is a ghost town of sorts dotted with decaying barns and milking sheds, an old cemetery, and once-majestic buildings that housed thousands of people. It was never a real city, it was a psychiatric facility, the Northern State Hospital, a place that contained deep contradictions. The gardens and fields were designed to provide residents with work and satisfaction in a bucolic setting. But medical treatments were often harsh.
Northern State closed in 1973. It was a time when states across the country were closing their own mental institutions in favor of a new model of community care.
today in Sunday’s storyA look at the move toward deinstitutionalization: what it means for people with mental illness and for society as a whole.
This episode was produced by KUOW’s Will James, Sydney Brownstone and Esmy Jimenez with help from Abby Wendle. It was edited by Liz Jones, with additional editing by Jenny Schmidt.
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