The Public Hospital in Haunted Virginia

Founded in 1773, the Public Hospital of Williamsburg was the first hospital dedicated to treating mentally ill patients exclusively. It also went by the names Eastern State Hospital or the Eastern Lunatic Asylum. It was during the late 18th century that ideas around the mentally ill began to circulate that condemned people as violent and dangerous as there seemed to be some links to murders at the time that involved people who were said to have lost their reason. Various treatments occurred at the hospital that many today would deem as strange and even dangerous. There was the use of various drugs, environmental modifications, venesection, and physical regiments implemented in order to attempt to pull a patient’s mind out of their delusions. The original hospital building remained operational until a large fire in 1885. The new hospital remains in operation today, however, the services are now located in a new location.

As a mental hospital, it is clear that there would have been plenty of pain and misery witnessed within its walls. It is thought to be one of the most haunted places in the world. A popular ghost story involves a man named Dr. John Minson Galt the second who committed suicide due to the stress of his work in the institution. Apparently, his ghost still drifts through the halls of the asylum. Others have witnessed ghosts of the tormented souls of the patients who withstood the various treatments and miseries that occurred in the building. During the Battle of Williamsburg, there would have been numerous civil war soldiers who were committed there due to the post-traumatic stress that would have been caused by witnessing such bloody battles. It is likely that their ghosts are also wandering in the rooms and halls, forever haunted by their own experiences.