Pennhurst State School and Hospital

For nearly 80 years, Pennhurst State School and Hospital in Pennsylvania housed society’s unwanted—people with mental illness, intellectual disabilities, and physical handicaps. They were warehoused in overcrowded wards, subjected to experimental treatments, and often abused. The 1968 exposé “Suffer the Little Children” shocked America and eventually led to deinstitutionalization. But something remains in those decaying buildings—the echoes of those who suffered and died there.

The History

Opening (1908)

Pennhurst opened in 1908 as the “Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution for the Feeble-Minded and Epileptic.” The facility was designed to house 500 patients.

Overcrowding

Within years, Pennhurst far exceeded capacity:

• By 1960, over 2,700 patients
• Most severely understaffed
• Patients received minimal care
• Many spent decades in the facility

The Exposé (1968)

Local reporter Bill Baldini’s five-part exposé revealed:

• Naked patients lying on bare floors
• Residents covered in feces
• Physical abuse by overwhelmed staff
• Patients attacking each other
• No educational or therapeutic programs
• Conditions worse than many prisons

The series, “Suffer the Little Children,” sparked national outrage.

Legal Action

The landmark case Halderman v. Pennhurst (1977) established that institutionalized people have constitutional rights to appropriate treatment in the least restrictive environment. This decision helped end institutional warehousing nationwide.

Closure (1987)

Pennhurst finally closed in 1987. The buildings were abandoned, left to decay with patient records, equipment, and memories inside.

The Haunting

Those who investigate the decaying facility report intense paranormal activity:

The Underground Tunnels:

• Shadow figures moving through passages
• Screaming echoing without source
• The feeling of hands grabbing at visitors

The Mayflower Building:

• Apparitions of patients in gowns
• Wheelchairs moving on their own
• Voices calling for help

The Medical Building:

• Cold spots near operating areas
• Equipment sounds from empty rooms
• The smell of antiseptic

The Devon Building (Children’s Ward):

• Children’s laughter
• Small figures in windows
• The sound of crying
• Toys that move

Common Experiences:

• Being touched or pushed
• Overwhelming sadness
• Hearing one’s name called
• Equipment malfunction
• Full-bodied apparitions

Why So Haunted?

Pennhurst represents concentrated human suffering:

• Decades of abuse and neglect
• Deaths from violence, neglect, and disease
• People who spent entire lives within those walls
• No understanding of why they were imprisoned
• Rage, fear, and despair absorbed into the structure

The spirits seem unaware Pennhurst has closed. They continue their existence as they did in life—abandoned, forgotten, and trapped.

Today

Part of Pennhurst has been converted into a haunted attraction. Paranormal investigators can arrange access to other buildings. The combination of documented historical horror and reported supernatural activity makes it one of America’s most compelling locations.

---

They were called “feeble-minded” and locked away. They were abused, neglected, and forgotten. When Pennhurst finally closed, the living left, but something stayed behind. In the decaying wards and underground tunnels, the lost patients of Pennhurst continue their endless, hopeless existence—waiting for help that came too late.