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Insane building destruction in Danvers

In searching YouTube for videos of this morning's explosion, I ran across Tyler LaVite's video on the demolition of the Danvers Insane Asylum, built in 1874 but mostly torn down this year to make way for a residential development:

More photos, history and demolition updates.

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Great!

By John K (not verified) | Thu, 11/23/2006 - 10:07am

Great post. Thanks. Amazing photos.

I don't see what else could have been done with the buildings. As you can tell from prior posts, I'm not a fan of "historic preservation" - move on, people! Still, it's great to see these photos. I never saw the interiors (or even exteriors), even though I lived within eight miles of the building.

I have never heard of it called the "Danvers Insane Asylum". Either the videographer was trying to be more descriptive, or he's not from around here. It's "Danvers State Hospital" to just about everyone.

Here's another article about its past and plans for the future.

"The Scariest Building in America"

That's what they call it now

By adamg | Thu, 11/23/2006 - 12:00pm

But back in the 19th century, they didn't have "state hospitals." They had "insane asylums."

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