It's hard to believe that at one point in time this hospital, located in the town of Brownsville south of Pittsburgh was the highest occupancy, busiest hospital in the whole state of Pennsylvania. It was opened in 1916, and the associated nurses home on the opposite side of the street was opened in 1929. In 1965, in response to the high demand placed on the hospital, all patients and services were moved to a much larger new hospital nearby and the original general hospital building was turned into the Golden Age Nursing Home. During the 1980s the home was federally investigated following numerous complaints of abuse and mistreatment of residents and the struggling home closed it's doors in 1985 for the last time.
Brownsville is a town in the dead centre of the so-called 'Rust Belt' that runs across the north-east of the USA. It's economy was largely dependent upon the steel mills scattered throughout Pittsburgh and other heavy industry in the area. Once the steel mills began to wind up, the knock-on effect of businesses closing created a huge black hole and places like Brownsville as well as the other towns surrounding Pittsburgh paid a heavy price. Other towns have been slowly picking themselves up and rejuvenating alongside Pittsburgh, but Brownsville hasn't been given that lucky break. It's almost - but not quite - a modern day ghost town, a small town filled with a very high concentration of empty buildings that is quite sobering to walk around. With no major investment being fed into the town places such as the General Hospital have been left to rot.
I can remember looking at photos of this place way before I ever intended on going to the USA, and thought it looked awesome. A mix of some seriously extreme natural decay coupled with almost all of the equipment left in situ was right up my street. Last year I had the chance to do a long weekend over Easter in Pittsburgh with one of my best exploring buddies over there so naturally for me the hospital in Brownsville was up the top of my 'to see' list.
I cannot stress enough how dangerous this place is inside. It's right up there with the most unstable structures I have ever found myself in - the corridors and stairs are for the most part solid however everything else is very sketchy. Large parts have suffered total internal collapse from the roof through three floors and into the basement. Getting into the best ward room on the upper floor for instance required a bum clenching leap over the sunken floor at the doorway. Large chunks of masonry have been known to fall off the outside landing on the street as well, however there is no money in the town to tear it down so it'll likely just collapse one day.
I can't remember why we didn't do the nurses home - time constraints maybe - however it's not as interesting as the hospital building I'm sure you can imagine.
Thanks for looking
Brownsville is a town in the dead centre of the so-called 'Rust Belt' that runs across the north-east of the USA. It's economy was largely dependent upon the steel mills scattered throughout Pittsburgh and other heavy industry in the area. Once the steel mills began to wind up, the knock-on effect of businesses closing created a huge black hole and places like Brownsville as well as the other towns surrounding Pittsburgh paid a heavy price. Other towns have been slowly picking themselves up and rejuvenating alongside Pittsburgh, but Brownsville hasn't been given that lucky break. It's almost - but not quite - a modern day ghost town, a small town filled with a very high concentration of empty buildings that is quite sobering to walk around. With no major investment being fed into the town places such as the General Hospital have been left to rot.
I can remember looking at photos of this place way before I ever intended on going to the USA, and thought it looked awesome. A mix of some seriously extreme natural decay coupled with almost all of the equipment left in situ was right up my street. Last year I had the chance to do a long weekend over Easter in Pittsburgh with one of my best exploring buddies over there so naturally for me the hospital in Brownsville was up the top of my 'to see' list.
I cannot stress enough how dangerous this place is inside. It's right up there with the most unstable structures I have ever found myself in - the corridors and stairs are for the most part solid however everything else is very sketchy. Large parts have suffered total internal collapse from the roof through three floors and into the basement. Getting into the best ward room on the upper floor for instance required a bum clenching leap over the sunken floor at the doorway. Large chunks of masonry have been known to fall off the outside landing on the street as well, however there is no money in the town to tear it down so it'll likely just collapse one day.
I can't remember why we didn't do the nurses home - time constraints maybe - however it's not as interesting as the hospital building I'm sure you can imagine.
Thanks for looking
