The Essex County Hospital Center, also known as the Overbrook Hospital, the Overbrook Asylum, or simply the Overbrook, was a

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

that was located around 125 Fairview Avenue in the Township of

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 12,411, reflecting an increase of 111 (+0.9%) from the 12,300 counted in the 2000 Census, w ...

. 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 disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

s. The original hospital was located at the edge of the Hilltop Reservation 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 Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Newark Hospital Newark Hospital is a health facility in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. It is managed by the Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in a workhouse established in Hawton Road (now Albert S ...

. 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 ''Ghost Adventures'' is an American paranormal and reality television series that premiered on October 17, 2008, on the Travel Channel before moving to Discovery+ in 2021. An independent film of the same name originally aired on the Sci-Fi Chann ...

'' on the

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...

, 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 ''Ghost Hunters Academy'' (''GHA'') was a paranormal reality television series that premiered on November 11, 2009, on the Syfy channel. The program was the third spin-off series based on '' Ghost Hunters'' (after ''Ghost Hunters International' ...

''. *

Wheeler Antabanez Wheeler Antabanez is the alter-ego and pen name for Montclair, New Jersey-based writer Matt Kent (born January 31, 1977). Antabanez is best known as the author of best selling special issue of ''Weird NJ'', ''Nightshade on the Passaic'' and ''gasst ...

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