Overbrook Asylum
Updated July 21, 2019 | By Matthew Christopher
The Essex County Hospital Center, colloquially known as Overbrook Asylum, was built in 1896 in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. At its height in the 1930s and 1940s it was practically its own city, but as psychiatric medications and the move towards less restrictive, community based settings gained prevalence starting in the 1970s, the patient population waned.
In its final years many of the buildings were abandoned even though a few remained in use, and the entire property was finally decomissioned in 2007. It remained a popular attraction for urban explorers, ghost hunters, and vandals until it was finally torn down in 2018.
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The Essex County Hospital Center, colloquially known as Overbrook Asylum, was built in 1896 in Cedar Grove, New Jersey. At its height in the 1930s and 1940s it was practically its own city, but as psychiatric medications and the move towards less restrictive, community based settings gained prevalence starting in the 1970s, the patient population waned.
In its final years many of the buildings were abandoned even though a few remained in use, and the entire property was finally decomissioned in 2007. It remained a popular attraction for urban explorers, ghost hunters, and vandals until it was finally torn down in 2018.
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