This facility opened over a century ago in the crisp, clean mountain air of Cresson, Pennsylvania, as a tuberculosis sanatorium. In the 1960s it was transformed into a psychiatric hospital, and eventually a medium-security prison. It was finally shuttered in 2013 amid official reports critical of conditions within, particularly the treatment of those with mental illness. Original Tudor-style buildings sit in odd juxtaposition to newer cell blocks. Gates, razor wire, bars, all devices of control, are evident throughout. While they look natural on the purpose-built cell blocks, they seem hauntingly out of place retrofitted on the older buildings. The images for this series were made in a number of visits over a period of more than a year.
Our tour begins in the administration building, which dates from the original sanatorium, and continues through several other original buildings.
Sanatorium-era arches and paneling in the administration building
Encountering an explorer
In an upstairs hallway
Dead end
A snow bank curls inside, shaped by the partially-open door
The chapel was original to the sanatorium, and was one place that bars were not as evident, although the inner steel door of the chapel did its best to disguise its function.
Next on our tour is one of the cellblocks. It utilized what at the time was a novel triangular shape to maximize both occupancy and visibility while minimizing floor space. The only light now is through a central skylight.
Looking into the central control room
Stainless steel accommodations
Coat hooks hang from a shelf, with metal bunk beds by the window
Each cellblock had a central shower area with several stalls. But what I had not expected to find among them was a handicap-accessible shower stall.
Shadows through the grated treads on stairs to the second floor
Raised control room in another more modern cellblock
Next on our tour are the medical facilities.
Examination room
X-ray room
Dental chair
Showers in the medical hall, with two sets of locked doors
View from a room in the medical building
Barber chair
Next we enter one of the tunnels that were part of the original sanatorium. When it was converted to a prison, a number of tunnels were demolished. This is one that remains.
Every tool, whether in the auto shop, kitchen or anywhere else, had its silhouette painted on the wall so that prisoners knew where each one went, and guards could easily tell when one was missing. These ladder silhouettes were found in the windowless basement of one building.
There are two cafeteria dining rooms, which were part of the original sanatorium.
“In” and “out” doors in the cafeteria dining rooms
Dishwashing station
Next on our tour is the gym.
Light reflects off the water-warped gym floor
In the weight room
Volleyball court outside the gym, now overgrown with weeds
Razor wire was everywhere, even ringing the fence of the volleyball court.
Here is an exercise pen in a cellblock courtyard. There were several such pens, with chain link and razor wire. All had what appeared to be gas heating above.
Who knows how long that soccer ball had been there. But it was definitely out of bounds now.
Looking up from within an exercise pen in a cellblock courtyard
Hoops and razor wire outside a retrofitted building
This outdoor basketball court was outside what was originally a nurses’ dormitory, which now sported bars and razor wire.
Before we go, let’s visit one last cellblock, the oldest in the prison. There are three different cellblock styles in the prison, which were constructed at different times. On the far wall is one cell that was reserved for particularly violent inmates. Instead of a solid door with windows, it had a barred door covered with plexiglass for improved visibility, and there was even a lockable box mounted to the door for securely passing items to and and from the inmate.
The bed is a concrete slab (which presumably had a mattress on top), with attachment points for restraining the prisoner. While it is expected that a prison is not a cheery place, the accommodations provided in this cell were a particularly unsettling discovery.
Visiting hours are almost over. It’s time to head back out.
Deteriorating guard shack, now surrounded by summer wildflowers, with cellblock in the distance at sunset
Here we are back at the main gate.
And we’re on our way out through the visitor building.
In a visitor booth
Razor wire at sunset