Sunland State Hospital

 

SolitudeDude's Page Dedicated To -

Sunland

 

Welcome to the page dedicated to Sunland State Hospital. Sunland State Hospital was located about 30 minutes away from my home in Tallahassee, FL. I have created this page to explain the history behind the place and show photos of what it looked like from the time it first opened to it's last days on earth!

*NOTICE - Before anyone heads to Florida to investigate this place, please be advised that Sunland HAS BEEN TORN DOWN as of November of 2006! You will find nothing more than a nice new apartment complex at that location now.*

 

This hospital first opened in the early 1950's as a Tuberculosis hospital called W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis. Patients that were infected with this awful killer disease around Tallahassee and the surrounding areas were brought in to this hospital on buses, whether they liked it or not. The hospital was a quarantine zone and at the time, nobody was allowed in from outside or people from the inside to go out.

Patients were brought to this hospital to spend their last days on earth knowing that they would never get to see their families, friends or homes again as they would soon die of the terrible and contagious disease. After each patient would die, hospital staff was forced to cremate the bodies, they were not allowed to have a normal burial due to the spread of the disease to non-infected people. The only way to prevent the virus from spreading was to burn the bodies.

Shortly after the vaccine for Tuberculosis was created, W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis was forced to close as there was no longer a need to quarantine Tuberculosis patients. The hospital building was then abandoned for several years until it was later renovated and re-opened as Sunland State Hospital. Sunland State Hospital was a place for mentally and physically disabled children whose families either could not take care of them, or did not want them.

For years the hospital was a great success with excellent care for the poor children who were either mentally or physically disabled. In later years, it became an asylum for the mentally insane until a Federal Class Action Lawsuit demanded that the hospital be shut down due to abuse and neglect of the patients in the mid 1980's.

After the hospital was closed down, it sat abandoned and condemned  up until it's demolition in November of 2006. The State of Florida sold the property to a development company for $4 million. There is now a new apartment complex on the grounds where Sunland once was.

As usual, the police had a hard time keeping out trespassers, homeless people, kids and people looking for paranormal activity not only because of the widely spread rumors about the building being haunted, but because the curiosity of wanting to explore an abandoned insane asylum. Although it was rare due to danger and the building being a public health hazard, some people did receive permission to walk through the building and was able to take photos which I have posted below.

It appeared that the hospital staff left in quite a hurry as there were still hospital beds, papers, some records and basic hospital paraphernalia left lying around. Rumor has it that if you went to the hospital at night you could hear sounds of children crying, things being dropped on the floor, and laughter. There were also several reported rumors that the third floor was always completely blocked and sealed off, leaving no way to get in there and forcing people to go around it via stairways to gain access to the higher floors.

Are there perhaps restless spirits of the souls who suffered and died at the hospital still haunting the area where Sunland was in spite of the fact that the building is gone? There is now a beautiful gated community built on top of where the hospital used to stand. There have been reports that the gate to the community (which requires a code to open) opens and closes by itself. Also reports of paranormal activity happening inside the new apartments. Is it the spirits of the children and TB patients who died inside Sunland?
Scroll down for the photos.

 

Please be aware that the photos on this page are copyright protected and they have been used on this site with the written permission from the original owners.
If concerned about copyright violations, I will be happy to provide a copy of the permission from it's original owner.

All photos below were shared by:  Florida Memory - from the State Archives of Florida
Many Thanks to Florida Memory and State Archives for sharing these photos with us!

The photos below are of Sunland (W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis) during it's early stages and near/during the time of it's demolition. There are several photos taken from inside Sunland while it was abandoned that show the terrible condition of the building on the inside and out. However, I unfortunately have not yet received permission from the owners to use those photos here. Until I receive permission, here is the link to that web site:

http://www.geocities.com/ppiinvestigations/sunland.html

Click on each photo to enlarge - they have been resized for layout reasons.

W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis - 1950's
W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis in the 1950's
W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis in the 1950's
W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis in the 1950's
Patients arriving at W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis on a bus
TB infected patients arriving to W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis on a bus.
Patients arriving by bus to W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis
TB infected patients being unloaded from bus to be taken inside the hospital
Construction workers renovating W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis to convert it into Sunland State Hospital
Construction workers renovating the old W.T. Edwards Hospital to prepare for the opening of Sunland State Hospital.
Ladies sweeping during the renovation of W.T. Edwards Hospital for Tuberculosis
Ladies sweeping during the renovation of the old W.T. Edwards Hospital to prepare for the opening of the new Sunland State Hospital.
Children's Ward
Children at play in the Children's Ward - Sunland State Hospital.
Sunland Boy Scouts
The Sunland Boy Scout Troop.
Pet Therapy
Pet Therapy at Sunland.
Swimming Pool
A nurse with a disabled child in the swimming pool at Sunland.
Patients outside for some air
Sunland patients outside for some fresh air.
Student Nurses
Student Nurses at Sunland.
Governor Claude Kirk visiting children at Sunland
Florida Governor Claude Kirk visiting children at Sunland in 1968. 
Governor Claude Kirk visiting children at Sunland
Florida Governor Claude Kirk visiting children at Sunland in 1968.
Governor Claude Kirk visiting children at Sunland
Florida Governor Claude Kirk visiting children at Sunland in 1968.
Governor Claude Kirk visiting children at Sunland
Florida Governor Claude Kirk talking a disabled child at Sunland 1968.
Crib area at Sunland
The cribs and sleeping area.
Children brushing teeth at Sunland
Children brushing their teeth at Sunland.
Birthday party
Birthday Party at Sunland.
Abandoned Sunland
Sunland in the bushes and trees after being abandoned for years.
Sunland Abandoned
Another picture of Sunland sometime in 2004 - abandoned and condemned.
Sunland Abandoned
Up close picture of Sunland - abandoned and condemned.
Sunland Abandoned
Up close of the Sun Porches built on each end of the hospital.
Sunland Demolition
Sunland demolition - the last remaining piece of Sunland (November 2006)




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