St. Albans Sanatorium Disturbing History

St Albans is nestled on a hill in Radford, Virginia, it is said to be one of the most prolific sites for paranormal activity on the East Coast. Its history starts with the land it was built on, in 1775 The Draper Meadow Massacre took place on the land. Five people were murdered, including an infant, during this massacre, this paints the darkness around St Albans.

The facility didn't start off as an sanatorium, it first opened its doors as St Albans Lutheran Boys School in 1892, it was quick to develop a reputation for being a competitive and grueling environment where bullying was encouraged. Many of the students were considered lost during its operation as a school, and a quite few of the deaths were considered to be suicide.

The school ended up closing its doors and ending operation in 1911. It stayed vacant until 1916 when Doctor J.C. King decided to open the building as a home for the mentally disabled. The new sanatorium was considered a superior hospital for the time period, It had a rooftop garden, a bowling alley, and a small farm on the premises, but even with high expectations, many of the patients still died at the hands of doctors who were notorious for performing experimental treatments. .

Vulnerable patients were often subjected to cruel and inhumane treatments, many of which left them permanently disabled or resulted in death. Treatments ranged from insulin-induced comas, lobotomies, electroshock therapy, and some patients would received hydrotherapy. Doctors would wrap some patients up in freezing cold towels and others would be strapped down in a steaming hot tub for days. Some patients would even get sprayed down with fire hoses. The room where this all took place became known as the suicide bathroom. It is thought that at least 4 patients ended their lives in the room. Doctors would also cut open a patient's skull and then shock them.

The facility wasn't prepared enough to deal with the thousands of patients who were admitted. The staff to patient ratio was 48 to 6,509 by 1945. The inhumane living conditions and the small staff led to more suicides within the facility's walls.

The hospital closed its doors in the 1990s. But, even though it has been shut down for years, there is still evidence of the torture that patients endured during their time in the facility. The hydrotherapy room stand intact with the giant bathtubs, rusted gurneys and broken wheelchairs are found around the abandoned hospital as well. There are many offices that have patient folders, images, and some rooms still have artwork on the walls from patients who were unwillingly kept at St Albans. The rooftop garden is covered with thick mesh as means to keep patients from jumping off.

Today guests are invited to take tours of the facility and year-round paranormal investigations also take place. It is said that many spirits are haunting St Albans, so many that tour guides have lost count over the years. One of the more famous of the spirits is a little girl that is said to haunt the bowling alley, many believe that she was a daughter of one of the patients that passed away while living in the hospital.

There are other unexplainable activites that take place in the facility, such as disembodied voices, strange shadows that are seen in hallways, and investigators say they have had strange signs that there are spirits of women still haunting the suicide bathroom.

There are opportunities to have a private investigation at the facility, for around $600 for those who are brave enough to spend the night exploring the buildings, but, if you're not brave enough to get your friends together and spend a night investigating St Albans, they offer public tours from April to September, which come at a more affordable price of 15 to 20 dollars.