This West Virginia Asylum Is Said To Be One Of The Most Haunted Places In America

Just based on its name, many people would probably assume that the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is one of the most haunted places in not just West Virginia but also the entire United States. The place checks multiple boxes on a list of common historical traits shared by a lot of allegedly haunted locations. It's a mental hospital from an era when the way the mentally ill were treated could be described in many ways — "humane" not being one of them. It was also around during the Civil War, a frequent source of haunting fodder, and the land it sits on was once used by the Union Army in the late 1850s (via Charleston Gazette-Mail).

The asylum was in operation all the way until 1994, when it shut its doors, as least as a functioning medical facility. These days, it's a hotspot for thrill-seekers in search of a good scare and possible brush with the paranormal.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum's design was inspired by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride. Kirkbride was the superintendent at the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane and a proponent of "moral treatment," which was simply the idea that the mentally ill should be treated with respect and compassion, not chained to walls as was common for the era, according to Penn Medicine.

According to Britannica, Kirkbride developed a set of ideas that became known as the Kirkbride Plan, which argued that a hospital's design could have a positive effect on patients. He published these ideas in his 1854 book, "On the Construction, Organization and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane." The idea was that the hospital itself would be made up of a central building with hospital wings that branched off of it. Another key component of the Kirkbride Plan was to limit the number of patients to 250 at most and let them roam around the building.

Construction started in the 1850s but was put on hold in 1858 when the Union Army needed the land. The building, which was only partially constructed, became a military outpost (via Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum).

In the 1930s, a tragedy struck the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. A fire — thought to be one of several that patients started over the years, per Legends of America — ripped through the building's fourth floor and caused over $100,000 in damage.

Through the 20th century, when the asylum population was at its highest, it cared for patients with a wide range of afflictions, including people with epilepsy, those with developmental issues, and even people experiencing addiction. It was no secret that the conditions at the asylum (which had been renamed Weston State Hospital in 1913, per The Culture Trip) had become unsanitary and unhealthy for those confined within. Newspapers like the Charleston Gazette were even publishing stories on the matter as early as 1949. Still, the asylum continued operating and even used some horrific treatment methods. According to All That's Interesting, one of these was known as the ice pick method, which consisted of inserting an ice pick or similarly thin piece of metal through a patient's eye socket to perform a lobotomy. The practice wound up killing several patients.

In 1994, amid changes in mental health treatment practices and a decline in the conditions of the nearly 150-year-old building, the asylum was closed. In the 2000s, it was purchased, and it now plays host to tour groups — some designed to show off the historical landmark and others to showcase its alleged current residents.