This week on Tales, Trails & Taverns, Rob takes Joe deep into the shadowed history of one of New England’s most infamous institutions: Taunton State Hospital. Opened in 1854 as the State Lunatic Hospital at Taunton, the sprawling Kirkbride-style complex was once considered cutting-edge in the treatment of mental illness.
Over the decades, its towering brick wards, overcrowded conditions, controversial treatments, and whispered rumors transformed it into something far darker in the public imagination. Rob walks Joe through the hospital’s history — from its early reform-era optimism to its decline, deinstitutionalization, and the eventual demolition of many of its original structures. But history books only tell part of the story.
Long before fences went up and buildings came down, Taunton State Hospital became a rite of passage for local teens. Rob shares what it was like exploring the abandoned buildings that once stood on the grounds — shattered windows, peeling paint, long echoing corridors, and the uneasy feeling that someone might still be watching from the shadows. And then there were the tunnels. Connecting parts of the campus beneath the surface, the underground passageways carried steam lines — and stories.
Rob recounts what it felt like descending into those dark, claustrophobic corridors as a teenager: the smell of damp concrete, the distant drip of water, the adrenaline of knowing you weren’t supposed to be there, and the creeping sense that the past hadn’t fully left.
Was it just teenage nerves in an abandoned asylum… or something else? Join us as we explore the layered history, the urban exploration memories, and the lingering legends surrounding Taunton State Hospital — a place where architecture, tragedy, and curiosity collided.
Turn down the lights… this one goes underground.

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