History
In 1896, a large portion of land was purchased by the City of Newark, New Jersey; the land was bought to build a new hospital to relieve pressure in the overcrowded Newark Hospital. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many buildings were built that housed patients and other facilities, such as a power house, laundromat, and theater. According to Weird New Jersey, in the winter of 1917, the hospital suffered a major catastrophe with the failure of the hospital's boilers and a number of patients freezing to death in their beds. In the mid 1920's, the tri-state mental correction board bought the land and converted Overbrook into a mental institution. The Overbrook asylum ran on, adding several add-ons and new wards until its abrupt close in the winter of 1975. It has been claimed that over 10,000 patients have died before it was closed. A large mental institution such as Overbrook would be kept out of public view and knowledge, because official few books, articles and maps have been found. In 2008, the hospital was featured on the paranormal reality TV shows Ghost Adventures and Ghost Hunters.
Read more about this topic: Essex County Hospital Center
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—Aristide Briand (1862–1932)
“Perhaps universal history is the history of the diverse intonation of some metaphors.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)
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—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)