Bartonville State Asylum
Bartonville State Asylum (Peoria State Mental Hospital) – Peoria, IL
By Michael Kleen
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The ruins of Bartonville Asylum, or as it is more commonly known, Peoria State Hospital, are located west of Peoria in the small town of Bartonville, which lies directly across the Illinois River. Troy Taylor popularized this location via several books including Haunted Illinois (1999, 2004) and Haunted Decatur Revisited (2000), although it had long been an object of local curiosity. The property owners have not been amused by the asylum’s growing notoriety, and police regularly patrol the premises looking for trespassers.
According to Taylor, Bartonville State Hospital began its life in 1885 as an empty shell and faux medieval castle. No patients were ever housed or treated in the building and it was torn down in 1897. The institution was rebuilt and reopened in 1902 with a new name and a new superintendent. Now called Peoria State Hospital, a progressive physician named Dr. George A. Zeller took over the facility and instituted new, more humane treatments for mental illness. Small cottages were built to house the patients and a dorm housed the full-time staff. Essentially a self-contained community, the grounds also contained a store, a bakery, and a kitchen (Haunted Illinois, Pg. 216).
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Legends and Lore of Illinois Vol. 2 – on Kindle!
Or, order all 12 issues of the Legends and Lore of Illinois from 2008 for only $5.00 in a special Kindle edition. Places covered in Vol. 2: Archer Cemetery, Sunset Haven, Peoria State Hospital (Bartonville Asylum), Airtight Bridge, University of Illinois, Calvary Cemetery and ‘Seaweed Charlie,’ Lakey’s Creek, Peck Cemetery, Blood’s Point Road, Old Union Cemetery, Hartford Castle, and more!
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My Assistant director, and myself help out the owners of the Asylum. If you have any questions about the place just drop me a line and I would be more than happy to help you out.
Toby, Director / Case mgr. K.B.L.P.R. Illinois
Hi,
I was wondering, I’m heading to Missouri the end of this month to do a Paranormal Investigation with Greg Myers (Children of the Grave/Sci-Fi channel) and would love to get an up close look at Bartonville State Asylum; do you think the owners would allow this?
Thank you for your time,
Sincerely,
Lori (Lead Investigator for Paranormal Group: CPR)
I saw “Children of the Grave” on the Sc Fi Channel, with Greg Myers and Steven LaChance, and a few others. Supposedly, Lawler-Ford Road south of St. Louis, MO is haunted by all these children on what is now called “Zombie Road”. What a horrifying place to be at night, especially when they heard the little children laughing and playing in the woods. Ughhhh……
I have an paranormal group. how would I go about Investigation at Bartonville?
are they doing tours at this time I’m unable to find any infor about any tours
dkr28
Hi I am interested in visiting the place can i get an exact address? Also how do I get permission to visit inside???
How do you contact the owners to do a overnight investigation? I belong to Southwest Ghost Finders in Springfield, Mo.
Did the crew from Paranormal State really do an investigation at the Hospital?
i have a group of people possibly interested in coming in and helping clean up the building like limestone key club has done in the past years. the leader of my program wants me to find out if we could help in any way and how structurally sound the building is because he refuses to consider if there is a high chance of any of the members of our group getting hurt. Please contact me at the given email address with any information or if there was someone else to contact concerning volunteering if you could please forward my request to them i would appreciate that very much. Thanks! -Frankie Russick
Is there a listing of patients available? Looking for Robert Craig Waters, 1886 – 1970. Thank you!
I am only a student, but I’m working on a project because I’m interested in the field of psychology. I was hoping I could be able to take pictures of how the Asylum looks now, and take notes of the structure. It would be a great help to my project and my studies for the future. Thanks so much! – Jessica Rice
Jessica – go do it! You don’t need the permission of anyone on this website…
Hmm. Well I thought I would have to have some kind of permission, to get that close to take pictures. Thanks.
I was wondering if they are going to do a sleep in, or a tour of the place on halloween of 2010? If so do you know the price, time and day?
I am looking to take pictures for a photography project for school and would be interested in doing an overnight stay with a group at the same time if someone wants to contact me about that I would appreciate it.
My mother worked there for many years, till it closed. She was a patient aide.