Inside largest abandoned asylum with 25,000 patients buried in unmarked graves

16 October 2023 , 14:25

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One of the rooms left to decay at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia (Image: mediadrumimages/@places_forgotten)

An abandoned mental asylum where 25,000 people lie buried in unmarked graves has been described as "one of the most haunted buildings in the world".

Spooky photographs from the scene show empty beds strewn throughout the decaying halls, and real-life X-rays of people left behind. Brit Ben James, 29, captured the creepy images on a recent visit to Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, Georgia.

Opened in December 1842, the hospital was known simply as ‘Milledgeville’ by locals, with many people recalling being threatened as children to be sent there by their mothers if they were misbehaving. In its prime, the 2,000-acre site housed nearly 12,000 patients at one time, making it the largest mental hospital in the world by the middle of the century.

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Equipment seen left behind at the facility, which opened in 1842 (mediadrumimages/@places_forgotten)

The 2,000-acre site housed nearly 12,000 patients at one time, making it the largest mental hospital in the world (mediadrumimages/@places_forgotten)

But an investigative report from the Atlanta Constitution newspaper in 1959 showed that the asylum was racked with problems, with only 48 doctors to serve thousands of patients, and none of them being a psychiatrist. Some of the 'doctors' had even been hired from the medical ward themselves, it was reported.

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Over 25,000 unmarked graves of patients are also left on the hospital grounds, adding to local rumours that ghosts still roam the halls of the hospital. In 2010, the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities announced that the hospital would be closed. While most of the buildings are now empty, it is still home to some forensic patients - such as those who were found by courts to be not guilty by reason of insanity, or incompetent to stand trial and short-stay acute treatment.

X-Rays can still be found in some of the rooms (mediadrumimages/@places_forgotten)

Most of Midgeville is now abandoned, though some of the buildings are still used (mediadrumimages/@places_forgotten)

As Ben roamed the halls of the abandoned buildings, he exclaimed how uncomfortable it was and likened the experience to a scene out of American Horror Story: Asylum, with beds and medical equipment left behind in the abandoned halls.

He said: "This place is believed to be one of the most haunted buildings in the world. It’s crazy how everything was just left behind. You’ve got patient records, X-rays, medical equipment. The caretaker told us that no one ever goes in because people are convinced it is full of ghosts and demons. The place literally looks like an episode from American Horror Story. It’s an amazing exploration but very creepy, I definitely wouldn’t go there at night."

Benedict Tetzlaff-Deas