Northern State Hospital

Curious about the old Northern State Hospital for just about ever, as soon as I learned that the photography group had scheduled a photo shoot for us there, I began looking forward to the opportunity. Today was our day!

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Red and yellow through barn windows.

The buildings, an easy walk from the parking lot, were open and we could explore freely from one area to the next. We cautiously entered buildings that appeared safe enough to look around and photograph details of their interiors. Some buildings were quite deteriorated and obviously unsafe to enter. We could only walk around those, taking photos as we peered in through their broken windows and open doors. Other buildings, so overgrown with blackberry bushes, were impossible even to approach.

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Fallen windows amid green shingles.

Rusty water.

Second story remains of a red brick building.

Tumbling barn doors.

Lichens and mosses on bricks.

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More of my photos from the day.

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Our photo shoot group shot.
(Photo by Ritchie. Thanks Ritchie!!! ) (photo linked from the BC Photographers Guild

http://digcam.meetup.com/194/ )

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Special thanks go to Marble

for guiding Torrie

out of those strong currents in the creek!!!

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History: The first patients were transferred to Northern State Hospital, also known as the "Bughouse", a mental institution for the harmless insane, in 1912. A self-sufficient facility complete with its own operating farm, bakery, medical facilities, and cemetery, it is said that many experimental mental health treatments and tests were performed there - brain surgeries, electrical shock therapies and experimental medicines.

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In a series of articles in 1953, the Courier-Times newspaper described the hospital in detail. At that time there were 2,200 patients and 415 employees. Patients were housed in 33 wards and the facility was described as being filled to capacity. Patients were sent to Northern State Hospital from the eight northwestern counties - Skagit, Whatcom, Snohomish, King, Jefferson, San Juan, Clallam and Island.

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With the development of more modern treatments for mental health issues, advancements in medications and changes in governmental policies and funding programs, Northern State Hospital closed its doors in 1976. The more seriously insane patients were sent to other facilities. The majority, however, out into their communities.

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A small portion of the original facility is maintained and used today by the Cascade Job Corps. As a cooperative between the Sedro Woolley School District and the Cascade Job Corps, participating youth can take courses to help improve their academic skills, accrue credits towards their high school diplomas and engage in vocational training courses to help secure future employment.

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In 1991, Skagit County purchased a 726-acre portion of the former Northern State Hospital from the State of Washington for the purpose of developing a major regional recreation facility. The site is now called the Northern State Recreation Area (http://www.skagitparksfoundation.org/nsra.htm). The historic structures are in a state of decay and disrepair with well groomed trails meandering throughout their old pastures, along the creek and around the deteriorating building complexes. A frisbee golf course was added by their parks department as additional recreation, turning the meadows into fairways, and winding throughout the grounds.

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Directions: From Interstate 5, take Exit 230 (Burlington/Anacortes, State Route 20). Follow State Route 20 east to Sedro Woolley. Just east of the town of Sedro Woolley, turn left on Helmick Road. A parking lot is on the left, less than a mile down the road.

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Map to the Northern State Hospital Recreation Area.

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Detailed information and history on the Northern State Hospital is available on the Internet at, http://www.skagitriverjournal.com/NearbyS-W/NSH/NSH1-Intro.html.

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Tired from an afternoon of warm sun beating down on us during our hours out touring and shooting photos around the grounds of that old mental institution, we moved on to enjoy a leisurely walking tour of downtown Sedro Woolley. As we strolled down the sidewalk, passing storefront after storefront - some vacant, others not - and visited with a few of the local shopkeepers along our way, we reached what appeared to us to be an authentic, local watering hole.

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Relaxing in our booth out of the bright sun from the day, we refueled with food and drink within a hubbub of activity among the regulars at the bar as our backdrop. As we left, walking across their empty dance floor to the door, I noticed their old piano and huge speakers in the corner and felt this bar would transform into a very lively, happening, and perhaps roudy, place as it competed for business with the bar directly across the street that I noticed also boasted "live music at 9:00" on their billboard above their door.

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As evening light approached, we made our way around the back streets of Sedro Woolley until we reached the outskirts of town and Union Cemetery where John honored his grandparents and other relatives buried there and shared stories of his family history in the Sedro Woolley and upper Skagit areas.

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Gravestone marking John's grandparents.

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We strolled through the cemetery until sunset and darkness encroached our ability to read the stones, scanning dates and names as we searched for the grave of Pat Gugich, my high school sweetheart who died as a result of a traffic accident on October 12th, 1969, and is also buried there.

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