Forgotten Photography provides a photographic journey through some of our nation's historical asylums and state hospitals. In the 1800's these elegant asylums and state hospitals were intended to be the first step towards the humane treatment of the mentally ill. These once lavish buildings now stand empty, a hollow shell of what was once the best mankind could offer for an illness he didn't understand and couldn’t cure. 

   Today with the advances in treatment along with the advent of modern medication, these asylums and state hospitals seem almost primitive and barbaric in nature. It's understandable to try to forget the past, very few people realize what this revolution in treatment did for our society. But to destroy buildings, whose architectural beauty is impossible to reproduce today is what's truly barbaric. So they stand, empty, crumbling, waiting for the day they are restored back to a functional part of society.  

  This site's mission is to provide a glimpse into historical asylums and state hospitals and show the current condition of each of these buildings with the hope that someone, somewhere will help save these historical landmarks. 

                                            Cold... Dark... Lonely...   

                                                        How sad to be Forgotten.   

David & Karie Esmann