Saturday, November 21, 2015

Lakeland Psychiatric Hospital

The grounds of this psychiatric hospital have functioned as such since the late 1870's. At the time of its creation, the only place in Camden County for the mentally ill to go was a small wooden structure referred to as the "mad house". The rooms in this building were so deplorable they were more akin to a barn than a hospital. These conditions prompted Dorothea Dix, who had visited the "mad house" to eventually rally the state of New Jersey to erect it's first psychiatric hospital in Trenton.


With the population of Camden County rising, the board of chosen freeholders decided to erect their own institution adjacent to the almshouse, which despite its deplorable conditions was still in operation. in 1878, the main building was open at what was dubbed the Camden County Insane Asylum at Blackwood.


The hospital would continue to expand under its original name until 1925 when the Timber Creek was dammed, and the hospital was renamed the Camden County Insane Hospital at Lakeland. The new Camden County Sanatorium was built across the street at the same time.


The hospital saw a lot of physical change around this time. The old original building was supplemented around the 1930's when a pair of high rises were built. A long corridor connected one of the new high rises to the old hospital, and to one of the buildings on the street.  The sister building to the new high rise was added on to existing structures south of the main building.


Despite all the growth, the hospital population would eventually dwindle, forcing many of the buildings to close between 1998 and 2000.


Most of the abandoned structures were demolished in 2007, before I got the chance to visit. The sister building to the main structure would go on to be renovated into county offices, but one building still sat abandoned.


This building was being used as storage, from the time that the other remaining buildings were renovated into offices. However, it was demolished without warning in the first few days of 2014. Though some buildings from the hospital still remain, they bear little historical significance. We will continue to watch these structures, to see what time has in store for them.




47 comments:

  1. Hi!! I'm soon opening a nonprofit to help the people of Camden County, located in the Lakeland area...this is so amazing. I hope I can learn more

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    1. Hey good evening. I am an affiliate with the Gloucester Township Historic and Scenic Preservation Society here in Blackwood. I am currently working on a project of The Lakeland Asylum and would greatly appreciate any information/stories or insights for my work. Please reach out to me at Smith655321@gmail.com as I know there may be sensitive information in which I take very seriously. Thank you so much. Gary

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    2. Hello I emailed you a few weeks ago.

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  2. I'm looking for records of a man who died in lakeland

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  3. Replies
    1. The chief executive officer in 1994 Anthony Peters Previous business contact address was: PO Box 1639 Blackwood NJ 08012

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  4. Where are the records for patients sent to boarding homes? How or where can I find them?

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    1. The chief executive officer in 1994 Anthony Peters Previous business contact address was: PO Box 1639 Blackwood NJ 08012

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  5. Hello, my name is Philip Shannon and I am looking for any info on my mother Genevieve Shannon who was interned in Lakeland Sanitorium. she died in 1959. Any info would be of great help. you can contact me at unk12nj3@verizon.net. Kind regards, Philip Shannon

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    1. Philip, I have an old newspaper article with a photo of your mother and it is in connecting with the sanitarium.

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    2. I am also looking for a great aunt that may have been there as well. Josephine Pierce Haley or Durham . Originally from Camden born in about 1888.

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    3. Genevieve Dyer Shannon
      BIRTH: 11 Sep 1915
      Camden, Camden County, New Jersey, USA
      DEATH: 18 Apr 1959 (aged 43)
      Camden, Camden County, New Jersey, USA
      BURIAL:Calvary Cemetery
      She is not listed on the 1940 or 1950 census records for the institution.
      Cherry Hill, Camden County, New Jersey, USA

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    4. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71525036/genevieve-shannon

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  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. I Also have a relative who was at this Insane Asylum in 1903. Can anyone please help me to find records? It is very important to me. If anyone is able to help I will be very grateful. Thank you.

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    1. This particular ancestor was Joseph John Goddard from Australia. A world famous heavy weight champion who got shot in an election riot that he started in 1903. He survived for some time with the bullet in his head though it turned him crazy so he ended up in this asylum.

      When he did die, his body was taken by graverobbers- there is a lot of controversy around this.

      He is listed as being buried at 2 different graveyards! I have been trying to find information on this last year of life including his time at the asylum.

      Can anyone please help me?

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    2. Did you ever receive any help?

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    3. Hey good evening. I am an affiliate with the Gloucester Township Historic and Scenic Preservation Society here in Blackwood. I am currently working on a project of The Lakeland Asylum and would greatly appreciate any information/stories or insights for my work. Please reach out to me at Smith655321@gmail.com as I know there may be sensitive information in which I take very seriously. Thank you so much. Gary

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  9. Researching family history I have a relation Clarence L Hummer who worked at Riegal Paper Co from abt 1944 to 1976. He was married to a Pauline nee Smith who died 1967. Does anyone recall Clarence?

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  10. I believe my grandmother worked in this hospital. Her name was Beatrice Mayberry. I would appreciate greatly if anyone who might have information contact me at the below email.

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    1. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31227510/beatrice-mayberry

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  11. What happened to the building across the street where the student nurses on affiliation lived?

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    1. Across from where the original abandoned asylum was?
      There is a small cluster of structures used by the Twp, at least they used to be, designated as “practice on-fire buildings” for the fire fighters posted near there to literally light up, and practice techniques putting out the fires.

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  12. Would you have any records on my mother Kathleen Bourque whom frequently was placed in Lakeland? Also with me now living in the area how could I learn more about the place itself? I have for many years been searching? You can reach me at bizeebees@yahoo.com. I am looking forward to speaking to you. Thankyou.

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  13. I am researching Paul Caruso of Pine Grove, New Jersey who died at Lakeland on April, 7, 1946. Thank you.
    maholley@gmail.com

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  14. Does anyone know if the building housing the jail is still standing? mskatz2u@yahoo.com

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    1. would that be on county house road?

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  15. i never knew my father but I was told he was in this hospital most of his life his name was John Van Toor i was told he killed himself by taking an overdose of thorazine.
    If any body knows anything about him please email me Dvantoor@aol.com

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  16. My mom worked there for a few years in the 1970's, working in the snack bar that was known as the canteen. I , myself had a summer job there in 1979, supposedly to help the guys that ran the wood shop. They really didnt do a heck of a lot. Sorry Bob and Harry, if you can read this from heaven.

    A great friend of our family Albert Watson , worked in the complex motor pool for many years. A really really great guy , who helped our family survive some lean years.

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    1. If your mom is still alive, I'd be interested to know if she knew Rebecca (Reba) Osler, who lived there from the 1930s through her death in 1989.

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  17. I worked security here when I went to college in Glassboro...i got lots of strange stories I could tell folks but would hate to scare the children. The underground tunnels near the section of campus built in the late 1800's was my least favorite part of my rounds at 3am....

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    1. Hello, I would be interested in any of your stories. Mermaidmerridith@gmail.com

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    2. Hey good evening. I am an affiliate with the Gloucester Township Historic and Scenic Preservation Society here in Blackwood. I am currently working on a project of The Lakeland Asylum and would greatly appreciate any information/stories or insights for my work. Please reach out to me at Smith655321@gmail.com as I know there may be sensitive information in which I take very seriously. Thank you so much. Gary

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  18. Hello I am looking for a relatives records from 1940 who was a resident there. Anyone knows how to get these records.

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  19. My great-grandmother Katherine Livingston was a resident there for years and died there in April 1965. I've heard the records no longer exist from that time period. I wish I could find some info about her being there. If anyone has had luck obtaining some type of records I would appreciate some guidance. Would also like to know what the exact address was of the Camden County Insane Hospital at Lakeland. Thanks.

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    1. 509 Lakeland Road Blackwood n.j.

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  20. Searching for any information on Helene (Kowalsky) Kozarski , who was possibly placed in this facility following birth of 2nd child. She was born 03 March 1907. Death was reported to have occurred 14 Feb 1984; in NJ,following UNKNOWN transfers within the system, Facility also UNKNOWN. I am the widow of her son, legally requesting this information as her husband; my husband and his sister, only children both deceased. If it will help, I have her SS# but live in a southern state, so need assistance in ways or how to search this out in NJ>

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    1. https://www.myheritage.com/research?action=query&formId=master&formMode=1&qname=Name+fn.Helene+fnmo.2+fnmsvos.1+fnmsmi.1+ln.Kozarski+lnmo.3+lnmsdm.1+lnmsmf3.1+lnmsrs.1&oft=&csrf_token=D_54bs17v6u2bdxl36_2brl7r36b46azl15.1667661111.948b5ab49a99613488f19fc82788581e&p=3

      Third result page, fourth result down on that page. There is a result with that name, birth date and death date. I don’t have a membership to the site so I can’t see what they do have. There are also census results that look like it may relate to the person you’re searching for on the second page of the results.

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  21. Anyone with info on people sent to Lakeland erroneously or held by mistake?

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    1. I don’t have that info but I do have some interesting info I’d rather not post.

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  22. Or held against their will

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  23. Pull the 1950 Census record in Ancestry or other system, search for Bessie Elder. There are about 100 attendants, Doctors or other personnel and 26 pages of names at 30 per page so roughly 780 people middle age or older men & women living there. So sad to see name after name.

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  24. I am looking for information for a great aunt of mine whose name was Rebecca Tyler Osler. She went by the name "Reba" and was born in 1892. She was committed to Lakeland between 1930 and 1940, and died there in 1989. I'm interested in any information about her, and/or a place to go where I might retrieve any records that might still exist about her time at Lakeland.

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    1. Someone replied anonymously to indicate that they'd already replied to me. Unfortunately I wasn't the person to whom they replied. To whoever replied, my sister and I would greatly appreciate it if you could forward your reply to me. Thank you for your patience.

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    2. Hello, My birth father Wallace Lee Tisby was a patient at Lakeland hospital in the 70s and 80s. My mother was called and asked if she wanted his art work. Anyone that can help me trace this or any historical records since he is deceased now May text 7192716501 or email quantumsande@gmail.com

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