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| Source: TFPNJ Postcard Archive |
The story of All Souls Hospital goes all the way back to 1891. Most infirmaries of the time were operating out of large houses as opposed to purpose built hospitals. All Souls used an old revolutionary era tavern that was moved from the center of town to the estate of Julia Keese Coles. The president of the All Souls Hospital association was a man named Paul Revere; great grandson of the legendary revolutionary.
A nursing school began at the hospital in 1908. The old tavern building burned to the ground in 1918. The hospital decided to rebuild the facility across the street where they had more room to expand.
Between the late 1950s and early 1960s a large new building was constructed in front of the existing hospital buildings.
Talks of closing the hospital circulated as far back as the 1960s. After ceasing operations as All Souls, the complex was reborn as the "Community Medical Center" in 1973.
Several disused buildings at the back of the property were demolished at this time. Morristown Medical Center took ownership of the complex four years later.
In the Mid 1990's a disused building between the steam plant and hospital building was demolished. This would be the last major change the campus saw until it was eventually shuttered by Atlantic Health (formerly Morristown Medical) in 2019.
The first time I really became aware of the hospital was in 2015. Protesting the demolition of the old Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital brought me out to Morristown frequently. One day after attending a freeholders meeting we drove past the Atlantic Health complex. It wasn't closed at the time, but I made a mental note to keep an eye on the hospital as it seemed to barely have a pulse at that time.
As many readers of this blog remember, the world was inundated with the Covid 19 pandemic by the start of the following year. New Jersey was hit especially hard with the virus, and healthcare officials were scrambling to control it.
The state of New Jersey toured several recently closed hospitals hoping to find one to reopen to care for patients. At the same time, Atlantic Health decided to bring All Souls back to life.
All patient rooms had special vents built into the windows to circulate fresh air.
One of the most stark additions to the hospital center was a large refrigerated shipping container which was brought in to use as as a morgue, since the original body cooler had been removed.
By 2021 the hospital had become redundant as the pandemic wound down. It was once again closed down for patient care. A skeleton crew stayed on site for the next few years, keeping a close eye on the shuttered buildings. Every doorway around the perimeter of the building had an object placed in front of it so the crew could see if any had been opened. They accessed the building though an underground tunnel, so any changes at the entrances would be noticed.
It took me several tries to eventually make my way inside. I almost immediately walked into the old security center, which had every closed circuit camera feed still up.
I quickly did a run through of the first few floors, blown away by what I had seen. There was so much medical equipment left behind.
The other thing that threw me was all the covid ephemera scattered around. There were get well cards for the patients and thank you cards for the staff, all sent in by local school kids.
There were even covid memes printed out and hung on the walls.
I made a few more trips to the hospital over the next few years, each time getting more and more comfortable with the complex. Unfortunately the fun couldnt last forever, and demoliton plans were announced in 2025.
Before any work began I made a special trip back to get inside the steam plant. It was really exciting to finally be able to walk through the tunnel that I had to avoid every prior trip.
It wasn't long before heavy machinery began ripping into the historic buildings, ending a 130 year legacy of care.
I'm really grateful I was able to see the complex before it came down. It goes on to join a long list of demolished New Jersey medical centers.
