San Antonio Asylum

San Antonio Asylum

Rumor has it that figures will watch you through the second floor windows. They are said to be the souls of former patients who lived and died there. Shadows will also follow you and if you run when you try to leave - it is said they will chase you.

 The San Antonio Insane Asylum opened on April 6, 1892 as "The Southwestern Insane Asylum". The State of Texas funded the project for a state of the art (at the time) mental institution. The site, on the south side of San Antonio, occupied 640 acres and was capable of handling 500 patients. Over the years it became politically incorrect to refer to these patients as "insane" or "lunatics" as they had in the past. The name of the hospital was then changed to the San Antonio State Hospital. Over the time the hospital was renovated and by 1940, the population grew to 2,732 patients and employed 450 people. Even at this time, only white patients were admitted. It wasn't until 1964 that the first black patient was treated at the hospital.

There are currently four structures still standing. A guard shack or security housing, the main office building and home for well behaved patients, a maintenance building, and the disciplinary unit for the bad patients - the largest building. According to locals the property was permanently abandoned in 1996 for unknown reasons. Some say the building hadn't been used as a hospital for quite some time, and that it had become a nursing home. Other reports on the internet from those who have been inside the building wonder if it was used for some governmental purpose, such as a fire department or fire training location. Their reasoning...the hundreds of pages and files on fire reports strewn about the place. Whatever it was when they finally abandoned the place, they left in a hurry. There are apparently many pieces of equipment left behind, and a storage room that is full of unopened boxes. In the "Disciplinary" building there are still file cabinets full of charts and patient information, and some evidence jars.