Exploring Spring Grove Hospital Center: Abandoned Buildings & Surprising LSD Legacy | Baltimore, MD

Spring Grove Hospital Center, located in Catonsville, Maryland, is the second oldest continuously operating psychiatric hospital in the United States, established in 1797. Initially founded as The Baltimore Hospital, it was later renamed The Maryland Hospital, then The Maryland Hospital for the Insane, and finally Spring Grove Hospital Center. It was originally set up to care for patients with Yellow Fever but transitioned in 1840 to exclusively treating the mentally ill.

The current location of the hospital was purchased in 1852 due to the need for expansion, largely driven by social reformer Dorothea Dix's advocacy. Construction of the new main building started in 1853, but the Civil War caused delays. During the war, the incomplete north wing served as a military hospital. The main building, designed under the Kirkbride plan, was completed in 1872 and initially accommodated 325 patients. This building was used until 1964 when it was replaced by modern facilities.

Today, the hospital operates 375 beds, with an average of 800 admissions and discharges annually. In 2022, the State of Maryland sold the hospital campus to the University of Maryland for $1, with plans for eventual closure, though not for at least two decades.

00:00 Intro
02:31 Bland Bryant Building and Add'l Exploring
10:02 Different Style Buildings
10:57 Add'l History (Kirkbride Architecture, New Location)
11:45 Tawes Building
13:00 Stone Cottages (Now Admin Buildings)
15:59 Abandoned Mansion
17:55 Demolished Building, Now Public Park
19:13 AMAZING Foster Wade Building
22:41 Let's Talk Psychedelic Research (LSD)
28:12 Current State and Future Plans
29:36 Outro