History & local legend
Eastern State School and Hospital was a Bensalem institution that closed in 1996. Its grounds were later redeveloped for offices, but stories about the former hospital continued to circulate. They described doors slamming in patient rooms, a man following visitors down a hall, and a morgue so cold it felt as though a fan were running in a windowless room.
A much-discussed fourth floor also became part of the site’s haunting lore. In an online exchange in January 2009, a former worker recalled it as a classroom floor where they had installed computer cable. A former patient later offered different memories of the building.
Sources
- Bucks Happening, October 30, 2010, traditions of the former Eastern State site at Bensalem
- StrangeUSA, 2008–2010 Bensalem discussion, former worker’s January 2009 recollection and former patient’s contrasting August 2010 recollection
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Eastern State School and Hospital closure notice, June 30, 1996
- Aquinas Real Estate, redevelopment of the former hospital site at Horizon Corporate Center
- U.S. Geological Survey, Langhorne, mapped Eastern State campus north of the turnpike
