Thanks to KIRO News 7 For doing the heavy lifting on this one.
The Northern State Mental Hospital, now known in some circles as the Northern State Ghost Town, is located in the foothills of the North Cascades in the town of Sedro- Woolley. The self-sustaining hospital complex, once the state's largest facility for the mentally insane, or not so insane, sits on 1,100 acres and was operational from 1912 to 1973, according to the Washington Trail Association.
The complex was designed as a "self-sustaining and therapeutic colony for the mentally ill," WTA said on its website. The site boasted patient and staff quarters, a lumber mill, a quarry, a greenhouse, a laundry, canning facilities and more. There was also a 700-acre farm, and the site had a cemetery where thousands of people have been buried.
The hospital closed in 1976, but some of its buildings are still in use as a drug rehab center and for job corps projects, the WTA reported.
According to some reports, patients died at the facility from all kinds of experimental treatments, including electroshock therapy, sterilizations and botched trans-orbital lobotomies. The eerie remains of Washington State’s Northern State Mental Hospital is rumored to be haunted with apparitions and unexplained screams reported by unsuspecting visitors.
Investigators of paranormal activity have said the ghostly remains of the Northern State Mental Hospital are haunted.
Some of the documented paranormal activity include the apparition of a nurse pushing a patient in a wheelchair. Some visitors have reported seeing shadowy figures and others have reported hearing screams and voices.
Although occupied buildings at the complex are off limits to the public, most of the property is now part of the Northern State Recreation Area and can be accessed, if you’re up for a little ghost hunting.