State School
Photographs of Belchertown State School for the Feeble-Minded
2012

Belchertown State School for the Feeble-Minded was established in 1922 in Belchertown, Massachusetts. During its years of operation the school developed a reputation for inhumane conditions and abusive treatment of patients, and was the target of several lawsuits prior to its closing in 1992. In 1994, the building complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

When I visited the complex in the late summer of 2012, the failing structures were by then completely abandoned save for scattered remnants of furniture, debris, and fading graffiti tags — themselves losing to time. These are a few of the photographs I captured there.








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