Elena

So part of that was the district training school for... Something that I will not say now. It was named Forest Haven Asylum in 1963. That's better. That's when they changed it up.

Yeah, and somehow it got shittier after that. So I don't know how that happened. Oh, it did? It was intended initially to treat children and young adults. Oh, damn. It was a really bad hotel. They were treating children and young adults in Laurel, Maryland, and it was serving the people of the District Columbia as well. It had a big range.

Yeah, and somehow it got shittier after that. So I don't know how that happened. Oh, it did? It was intended initially to treat children and young adults. Oh, damn. It was a really bad hotel. They were treating children and young adults in Laurel, Maryland, and it was serving the people of the District Columbia as well. It had a big range.

It was going to be taking in people who were deemed mentally ill at the time, like severely mentally ill, but later it went way far out of those – Parameters. Far enough to bring in kids and young adults that were just deemed not quote unquote normal by society or were just people that nobody wanted to deal with anymore. That's horrible.

It was going to be taking in people who were deemed mentally ill at the time, like severely mentally ill, but later it went way far out of those – Parameters. Far enough to bring in kids and young adults that were just deemed not quote unquote normal by society or were just people that nobody wanted to deal with anymore. That's horrible.

There was also times when people were taken from their families against their family's will and put into this place. How did that happen? It was really bad. I mean, there was a time, and we'll get to it, that an orphanage closed nearby and 20 orphans were just written down in documentation as being mentally ill to be put into this place because they didn't have anywhere else to put them. Wow.

There was also times when people were taken from their families against their family's will and put into this place. How did that happen? It was really bad. I mean, there was a time, and we'll get to it, that an orphanage closed nearby and 20 orphans were just written down in documentation as being mentally ill to be put into this place because they didn't have anywhere else to put them. Wow.

Holy shit. So completely, you know, like just like average kids happen to be orphans, don't have any illnesses that we could see. Right. We're just put in this place to be forgotten about. Yeah. So this is huge. This place is gigantic. It has 30 structures. It covers 250 acres. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere in a forest.

Holy shit. So completely, you know, like just like average kids happen to be orphans, don't have any illnesses that we could see. Right. We're just put in this place to be forgotten about. Yeah. So this is huge. This place is gigantic. It has 30 structures. It covers 250 acres. It's kind of in the middle of nowhere in a forest.

Like it's definitely pushed off, which a lot of these places usually were. On the entryway into the main building, and it's still there, there's a bronze plaque that says, yet while I live, let me not live in vain, which is chilling because all of them did. Yeah. Like they did not follow that.

Like it's definitely pushed off, which a lot of these places usually were. On the entryway into the main building, and it's still there, there's a bronze plaque that says, yet while I live, let me not live in vain, which is chilling because all of them did. Yeah. Like they did not follow that.

At the height of its operation, it had over a thousand patients, which they were referring to as inmates at the time. Way overcrowded. Way overcrowded. When it initially opened in the 20s, and this is what's wild, it was initially created as like a progressive farm colony style thing. Like they had opened it as an institution, but what they wanted to do was make it more like a wellness thing.

At the height of its operation, it had over a thousand patients, which they were referring to as inmates at the time. Way overcrowded. Way overcrowded. When it initially opened in the 20s, and this is what's wild, it was initially created as like a progressive farm colony style thing. Like they had opened it as an institution, but what they wanted to do was make it more like a wellness thing.

They wanted to actually help these kids and these young adults like grow and thrive and like

They wanted to actually help these kids and these young adults like grow and thrive and like

Yeah, like, truly make it, like, a wellness thing. In the beginning, they were learning life skills, farm skills. They were, like, doing work and training for certain things and having, like, a real feeling of being part of a community. They were providing for the community as well with the farming stuff. So, like, they were given purpose. Yeah.

Yeah, like, truly make it, like, a wellness thing. In the beginning, they were learning life skills, farm skills. They were, like, doing work and training for certain things and having, like, a real feeling of being part of a community. They were providing for the community as well with the farming stuff. So, like, they were given purpose. Yeah.

Everything there was supposed to be like super chill. There was a lot there too in the beginning. There was basketball courts, a baseball field. They would publish the scores of the baseball games in the papers sometimes at first. Oh, that's cool. So initially this was like great. Like a community. And it was being like held up as like this great place, like great stories were coming out.

Everything there was supposed to be like super chill. There was a lot there too in the beginning. There was basketball courts, a baseball field. They would publish the scores of the baseball games in the papers sometimes at first. Oh, that's cool. So initially this was like great. Like a community. And it was being like held up as like this great place, like great stories were coming out.

I mean, they had theaters there. They had a gym. They had all kinds of things to keep the patients busy and active and their minds working. How did it all go to shit? Everything was calm and nurturing. well in the 1960s the funding started to be pulled back and once the funding got pulled back the asylum was suffering