The Essex County Hospital Center, also known as the Overbrook Hospital, the Overbrook Asylum, or simply the Overbrook, was a psychiatric hospital that was located around 125 Fairview Avenue in the Township of Cedar Grove, New Jersey. It was used as a

general hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

then converted to house patients afflicted with mental disorders. The original hospital was located at the edge of the

Hilltop Reservation The Hilltop Reservation is a nature preserve located in Essex County, New Jersey, in the host communities of Caldwell, Cedar Grove, North Caldwell and Verona. It has over , and is the most recent addition to the Essex County Park System. It is comp ...

and designated a Conservation Easement in 2001 by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the site now is part of the Essex County park system.essex-countynj.org
/ref> A new hospital opened in 2006, and the site of the original hospital was converted to a park and townhomes in 2017.

History

In 1896, a large portion of land was purchased by the City of Newark, New Jersey; the land was bought to build a new hospital to relieve pressure in the overcrowded Newark Hospital. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many buildings were built that housed patients and other facilities, such as a power house, laundromat, and theater. According to ''Weird New Jersey'', in the winter of 1917, the hospital suffered a catastrophe with the failure of the hospital's boilers and 24 patients freezing to death in their beds. In the mid-1920s, the tri-state mental correction board bought the land and converted Overbrook into a mental institution. The Overbrook asylum ran on, adding several add-ons and new wards until its closure in the winter of 2007.

New hospital

In late 2006, the new Essex County Hospital Center opened just down the road from the site of the original Overbrook Hospital. This center houses chronically ill psychiatric patients in need of longer lengths of stay than are available in community hospitals and medical centers. The new center takes a cutting edge approach to behavioral health care and its layout and programs stand in stark contrast to the hundred-year-old facility it replaced. It is located at 204 Grove Avenue in Cedar Grove.

Future of the former hospital

After years of back and forth of what the old hospitals in Cedar Grove were to become, county spokesman Anthony Puglisi stated that the property of these hospitals will become a park. This statement was made in 2015 and the project was completed in 2017. The vast 77 acres purchased by the county now is partially a park. This is now the 23rd space to be added to the Essex County park system. The remaining space was turned into townhomes and condominiums.

Directors

* Henry Alexander Davidson from 1957 to 1969.

In popular culture

*The hospital was a major filming location for the 2007 films '' Methodic'' and '' Subject 87''. *The hospital was a major filming location for the 2008 film '' Choke''. *In 2008, the hospital was featured on the paranormal reality series '' Ghost Adventures'' on the Travel Channel, but due to privacy, the name and location were not revealed. *In 2009, the hospital was featured on

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

's paranormal reality shows '' Ghost Hunters'', ''Ghost Hunters: Live Halloween Countdown'', and '' Ghost Hunters Academy''. * Wheeler Antabanez has written extensively about The Essex County Hospital Center. His Overbrook web page contains videos, photos and essays about the abandoned hospital center including documentation of the demolition process. *The hospital is the featured location for the online interactive film ''White Enamel''. In the story, the hospital is referred to the fictional name of "Glenfield Psychiatric Hospital." *In 2017, a paperback book entitled ''Images of America: Essex County Overbrook Hospital'' was released by Arcadia Publishing detailing the history of the complex. The book contains both historical images of the hospital as well as recent photographs from the demolition. This hospital was also featured in a show called “The Scariest Night of My Life”.

References

External links

Weird NJ
History, Photos, Legends of Essex County Hospital (AKA Overbrook Asylum for the Insane).

History, present day photos, and video of the Essex County Hospital Center grounds.
Shadows and Rust
Recent photographs of the inside and outside of the site prior to demolition.
North Jersey Exploration
Pictures of Overbrook Hospital.

Photographs of Essex County Hospital Center.
White Enamel
Interactive imagery and film using the Essex County Hospital Center. {{authority control

Hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

Hospitals established in 1896 Psychiatric hospitals in New Jersey Defunct hospitals in New Jersey Hospitals in Essex County, New Jersey Unused buildings in New Jersey Reportedly haunted locations in New Jersey