The L Files & The Terrell State Hospital
Terrell State Hospital
1200 E Brin St.
Terrell TX
75160
Opened in : July 14th 1885
Locations Status : Active
Previous Names : North Texas Lunatic Asylum
North Texas Hospital for the Insane
Original Buildings Still in Place : Only the fountain in the circular park--recently and restored--remains from the original construction.
Current buildings in use :
-Administration Building
-Wards A1-A3
-Adol Building
-Family Center
-Chapel
-Cinema
Terrell State Hospital is a 288 bed, Joint Commission accredited and Medicare certified, psychiatric inpatient hospital operated under the direction of the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
History –
Dark Past –
Terrell State Hospital’s superintendent resigned under pressure Thursday in the midst of a federal investigation into problems at the Northeast Texas facility.
Joe Finch, who ran the 300-bed hospital since 2008, quit after state officials told him they wanted a leadership change at the troubled hospital and that they would fire him if he didn’t resign. Read more here.
Two psychiatrists at Terrell State Hospital resigned this week after being told they would face disciplinary action for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from a pharmaceutical company to promote the drug Seroquel, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Read about it here
Unexplained deaths * In regards to Joe Finch, “The hospital came under scrutiny after an April American-Statesman report questioned the death of Ann Simmons, a 62-year-old patient who died in February 2012 after being restrained for 55 hours. Simmons’ death was not investigated by anyone outside the hospital system until the newspaper inquired about the case with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.” [ http://www.statesman.com/news/news/terrell-state-hospital-leader-quits-amid-federal-i/nYRyJ/]
* Jason Evans called 911 in November during a bipolar meltdown and was admitted to the Terrell State Hospital. Days later, the 34-year-old was dead – and his parents still don't know why.
State officials told the Kaufman couple that their son, who was severely mentally ill but in good physical condition, had been disruptive that evening, and records obtained by the family indicate hospital workers medicated him before sending him to sleep. Mr. Evans was apparently found hours later in his bed, and was no longer breathing.
[http://shapleigh.org/news/1893-reports-show-systemic-abuse-at-texas-psychiatric-hospitals]
* Cynthia McLelland was killed March 30 along with her husband, Mike McLelland, the Kaufman County District Attorney.
Cynthia, 65, had worked for the state hospital since 2001, and before that she worked at the Corpus Christi State School from 1994 to 2001. Mike, 63, had served as an attorney for Mental Health and Mental Retardation from 1976 to 1981. He also worked as a special litigator for DFPS from 2002 to 2005.
Access –
Though the rear of the hospital is backed by lush forest the entrance sits adjacent to a residential area.
Our visit:
After passing the Terrell State Hospital sign, which will be on your right, you will immediately come to a Security Booth/Welcome Center on your left. (As seen in the photograph below)
[Photo credit: WFAA]
We waited at the booth for about two minutes, assuming they would ask us questions or something; the booth was empty and it did not seem as if anyone would be approaching, so we continued forward and drove onto the hospital grounds. We drove down the various intersecting roads of the hospital for about 20 minutes and were not approached once. The property feels like a ghost town; we saw a total of 3 people during our time there. Two of the people we saw were far away on the grounds outside of one of the currently functioning buildings. The other person we encountered was in their vehicle at a four way stop as we were leaving the grounds.
If there is any feeling which trumps the pure uneasiness of the location, its an appreciation for the beauty of the abandoned buildings slowly being reclaimed by nature.
The abandoned building most commonly photographed and associated with Terrell State Hospitals abandonment was one of the first we came across. (See Photo below)
When we became aware that the hospital was still active, we expected more of the buildings to be in use. From broken windows to boarded up entry ways, Terrell State Hospital is an odd atmosphere of the present attempting to coexist with the lingering past.
The hospital was built to be self sufficient, which is evident when seeing the grounds sprawled across 150 acres complete with patient wards, fire station, chapel, green house, staff housing, and pet therapy.
After pulling out of a drive way we had driven down, in an attempt to get a better look at a home located on the grounds, we decided to start making our way back towards downtown Terrell. While driving towards the exit, Lindsay immediately comes to a grounding halt upon seeing something out of the passenger window…..A FOX!!!!!! It was the most random, out of place thing we've seen in a while. It was just hanging out, minding its own business. It didn't even seem to mind that we were stopped and gawking at it. Lindsay got out of the car to try and get a closer look at it, but it immediately took off into a drain pipe. Not even 30 seconds after getting back in the car, we noticed a cat doing the same thing as the fox. It was just so weird.
We didn't get to stay as long as we had liked to because we purchased tickets for the Historic Terrell Ghost Walks. If you're ever in Terrell, we highly recommend you checking them out. They're every Saturday at 8 pm. They are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. The tour takes about 2 and a half hours. They stop about half way through and let everyone take a break; they provide water and wine and give a little more information on them. If you're interested, you can purchase tickets here.
Lauren's thoughts –
Overall Feeling : Uneasiness near buildings, peace when driving through landscaped grounds
As soon as we passed the Welcome sign, I automatically felt uneasy. My flight response was in full swing and my curiosity was battling my need to tuck tail and run. My uneasiness only subsided near the end of our trip after we had pulled out of the driveway of the abandoned home and encountered the fox and cat. Of course everyone who knows us well enough knows that placing an animal in front of us is one sure fire way to distract us :)
Lindsay's thoughts –
Overall Feeling : Curiosity and eagerness
It was an incredible place. You definitely get the feeling of sorrow and sadness. When you're driving around, you just can't help but feel like something isn't right about the place. My curiosity tends to take over any other feelings that I posses, so naturally I wanted to explore more. I cannot wait to go back when we have more time and see what we can find.
The L Files wish to express their complete and utmost respect for every location they visit. They strive to provide like minded individuals with the history, present day status, and paranormal activity/occurrences which have/do occur on the properties.
