Hidden History of the Bull Street Asylum

Resolution time stamp: 20:39

The Bull Street Asylum has a long history spanning centuries. Today it is a rotting building that also served as a landmark for Columbia, South Carolina.

If you enjoyed the video and want to know more about the asylum, check out “The South Carolina state hospital: stories from bull street” by William Buchheit.

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Credits:

Photography:
Sean Rayford @theangrywhale insta

Video:
Roger Brasley

[livinglife]

My paternal grandfather was dumped in one of these horrid places in Kentucky when he was three! He was born with a cleft lip and palate, when his father died in a mine accident his mother dumped him so she could get remarried! I hop she rots. Back in 1908 they lived far apart from family and her parents had no idea that little Theodore was missing. When they learned what she had done they went and retrieved him from that god awful place, he was nearly starved to death and so frightened of everyone and everything. His grandfather adopted him and raised him as their own. He lived well into his late 80’s.

[melodyclark]

I've only seen one other institution in my life, when I was in my teens. Either could have been my story. I was born in 1954, with a severe lazy eye, a club foot, and very tiny, 5 lbs. The doctors tried to convince my mom to put me in an institution. Told her I would be blind, would never walk, and would probably be retarded. She said, f*** you and took me home. The Lions Club donated eye surgery when I was three. My mom fixed my foot, thinking as I grew, it would. Wrapped my toes in cotton, adjusting it, directing them in the way they should go. My baby toe on the right foot remained laying over the next, the rest were straight. My first pair of baby shoes carries the imprint of a four toed foot. Our God is an Awesome God. He gave me an Awesome mom. I'm 68 on March 31. Still walking. Here's looking at ya.

[billiepacentine]

My Mother was required to work there during her time as a nursing student. She became a registered nurse in 1958. She would tell me that about pushing her dresser against the door every night so the patients couldn't come in and kill her. She also spoke of the horrible things about electric shock therapy and having to lay across a patient's legs while it was happening. She hated that place because of the "treatments" they bestowed upon the patients.

[waltymcnalty]

The welcoming message of “eat shit” on the building really set the tone

[mr.beachwalker]

there is NO WAY I would live in an apartment in this place, no matter how nice it had been fixed up. The place needs to be torn down. To much pain and suffering was inflicted there.

[leasagna]

Its even scarier watching this as a person with autism and ADHD, knowing if i was born at this time i would probably have been put into one of these asylums aswell...

[marciturner]

They aren't hiding "dirty past". They are hiding their wicked crimes.

[AmericanAmy]

This is why public photography is so important. You never know when somethings gonna be gone so always good to have a photo even better a video of it.

[shanktonlewis]

My father suffered from depression and what is now called PTSD. Our oldest sister, who was given charge of him, decided to let them use electro shock therapy on him. Everyone in the family told her not to go through with it. She didn't listen.
They used the so called therapy on him twice. I will never forget seeing him after. He was not my father anymore.
He would stare into the distance. He couldn't respond to questions we asked him. Answers he should have known by heart.
He had a hard time recognizing his children and grandchildren. He didn't want to get out of bed or even eat.
The doctors claimed that it would just take time for him to readjust. He never did. We ended up having to put him in a home.
It didn't take long for him to give up.
To this day my sister says she did the right thing. No one in the family speaks to her any longer.

[barnes]

My grandmother had 3 shock treatments here just for depression from birthing a stillborn. Sadly the treatments erased almost all her long term memories. Grandma passed away at 83yrs old four years ago.

[happygirlsonly]

My mom worked here as a nurse. She left nursing because of this place. She worked with the elderly patients.

[jenniferjoaquin]

Being from South Carolina and growing up with the mental asylum still in operation, this video makes me cry and saddened by the loss of life and minds in this place. Thank you for showing the world just how inhumane these places really were in history!

[rozbeaumont]

its so refreshing to find someone with a nice voice, & not being stupid or making stuff up.. thank you & i have subscribed

[TheVineyardFarmhouse]

Wow, if you weren’t insane when you went in there, the lead paint would’ve Changed that.

[Consistentlycrazy]

I'm bipolar and I admit I've been through some bad times, after watching this I actually feel grateful that even though the medication I take has pretty horrible side effects nothing could be as bad as being admitted to a place like this. Those poor people suffered so much 😭 xx

[conniehopkins]

I was a student nurse there in the late 1970s. The wood floors and doors with their brass knobs were gorgeous. Also, the bathrooms had beautiful old fixtures and tile. It hurts my heart to see this beautiful old building vandalized and let to rot. I worked as a nurse in the old Byrnes Hospital on the campus in the 1990s in their operating room. The area had been used as the labor and delivery unit back in the day. I found the old delivery room record books stored in the back of a cabinet in the recovery room area. In the 1920s and 1930s, babies born there were admitted to the hospital and stayed there for the rest of their lives in many cases. I guess no one wanted to adopt a child born to a patient in the lunatic asylum.

[xohyoshidae]

It’s genuinely quite shocking how recent these events are. Talking about the 50s of 40s does seem a long time, but considering how long we’ve lived on this earth, it is VERY recent. It is incredibly shocking to think these things were taking place not even 100 years ago. It’s so recent.

[emilyclarke]

It’s pretty terrifying that as a woman with schizophrenia, I might’ve been put in a place like this. I’m grateful to be living in better times. Those poor people❤️

[tinfoilskullcap]

Places like this hold enormous negative energy.
Trauma leaves a mark.

[TheoBlack]

As a former patient of the South Carolina State Hospital your video brought back some memories. I wish you would have went around back and showed the school or the library that was located under the front porch. I was in the Wilson building and the Dix building I even did some time in the Cooper building but I went to school at the Babcock building. I wish I could say my life got better once I got out but no such luck. Thank you for sharing this.