Touring the Insane Asylum at Weston West Virginia: A Great Destination for Ghost Hunters and Thrill Seekers

The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum was opened by the Commonwealth of Virginia in Weston, Virginia during the 1850's. The hospital was opened in 1864. By then Weston was a part of the fledgling state of West Virginia. As the country was still in the grips of The Civil War (The War Between the States) the hospital began receiving patients. The hospital was closed in 1994 and the current patients were moved to the new state hospital built just down the road.

Today the enormous and imposing old Weston State Hospital host tours of the facility for visitors, ghost hunters, historians, and anyone interested in history. The Weston State Hospital has been visited by television show Ghost Hunters (TAPS) and seen on the Sci Fi Channel. The large building is very creepy and certainly if ghosts exist this would be a great place to find one. The hospital was home to tortured minds and torturous treatment by today's standards. I'm not one to quickly pass judgment on the ignorance of those in the past but the fact remains that many patients surely were treated in a barbaric way whether purposefully or not. The Weston State Hospital was definitely overcrowded (at one time well over 2000 patients lived there) and many lobotomies were reportedly performed here. One of the patients was a man named Charles Manson (how the heck did he get out?).

The old Weston State Hospital is reported as one of the largest hand cut stone buildings in the United States. The building is large and imposing sitting in a fenced in yard away from other urban development. One of the features that stands out to me is the open porches on one side of the building covered with chain link fence. I assume this area was reserved for patients who couldn't be trusted to go out into the yard with the other patients to get fresh air. Life in this facility must have been very bleak and defeating for those not as disabled as the majority. Regardless of the ghosts and history, the architecture of the building is enough to draw tourists to this great old building.

While visiting the Weston area don't forget to look around town. Like most of West Virginia, time seems to have passed unnoticed. The town has many small diners, antique stores, and other small town charms.