A trip to Central State Hospital

If you arent familiar with Central State Hospital in Indianapolis, Then first maybe I should offer some background on this place.

Central State Hospital or Asylum, was deemed the "hospital for the insane" by the Indiana state legislature, and opened its doors in November of 1848 and was finally closed down in 1999. The site consists of several buildings on a large plot of land on the west side of town.

Many of the buildings at this location are aledged to be haunted due to some of the atrocities that took place while the asylum was still in service. Whether it is or not, as any haunted attraction is concerned, is debatable. But I can say that the vibe of this place creates a certain tension in the air that could be described as....well....off.

The oldest of all the buildings on the property is the boiler room, quaintly located behind an IMPD station. This may also be a good time to mention, do not try this at home, you could potentially be jeopardizing your clean legal record.

A clan of 4 of us decided to get together and enter this building, as the aesthetics are just to hard to ignore.

Walking into the door for the first time you are immediately brought back to the 19th century. A large cool furnace overtaken with rust and decrepit peeling paint greats you as you enter.

We decided to go up the stair case to the highest area we could fine to start taking some photos.

At the top of the stairs was a large, rusted door that lead to the coal room. Entering we found a long slender room, floor made of grates, with a long conveur that appears to have been used to move coal into the furnace.

After taking a few photos and determining that the floor and railing was way too horribly unstable for us to spend much time on, we left the room.

Here is where things got strange for a moment. The 4 of us walked out and as soon as the final person left the room, the door slammed shut making a loud thunderous boom. This could easily be accredited to the wind gusts that occasionally make their way through the myriad of busted windows...I won't argue that, but it was unsettling no less.

The only real thing I could think of at this moment was "Smile Rumi, take a picture". Which as you can see was well received.

Finally, nerves began to calm, and we began to take our photos.

So here begins our set with Boom.

Photos by Captain Charlie

Photos by Special K