Northern State Hospital is a former mental hospital complex, built in 1912 and closed in 1973. It was nicknamed “The Bughouse”. It is now a park that contains the remains of some of the buildings.
It’s a huge place – I walked about 3 miles and did not get to see all of it. A few of my early favorite shots are below, I will be posting more soon. The two shots of the tower are HDR (high dynamic range) images.
Click on the images to see larger versions.
I noticed that this tower had an opening at arm level, so…
I knew the bottom was full of water, I had no idea what was above, but I had to try a shot. I stuck my arm in, holding the camera as tight as I could, and took the shot.
More shots coming in the next week or two as I go through them. I’d like to thank Jolene Hanson (http://jolenehansonphotos.wordpress.com/) who suggested it as a fun place for a photo trip.
Tau Zero 
You made it up!! I’m so glad it turned out to be a sunny day. I love the HDR shots. It adds a whole new dimension – like how the clouds swirl around the tower.
Thanks for recommending the place. I think I saw about half of it, will be going there again.
Wow what an incredible shot. I like the colors. This one is my favorite. Where is this place?
Thanks. It’s just outside Sedro-Wooley, Washington. About 55 miles north of Seattle. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area.
Looks like an oubliette! I hope they didn’t put the patients in there to forget about them!
There’s a huge building in the northern suburbs of London that used to be a mental hospital, also very spooky, but they’ve now turned it into luxury apartments!
I hope they didn’t put people in that tower. They grew a lot of their food onsite so I’m hoping it held grain. This is a place of contrasts – part crumbling spooking buildings, and part of it is a park with picnic tables and a frisbee golf course.