In this episode, Rob and Joe head deep into one of Massachusetts’ most storied—and unsettling—historical sites: Tewksbury State Hospital. Once a sprawling almshouse and later one of the state’s largest medical institutions, Tewksbury’s history is layered with hardship, controversy, and thousands of forgotten lives.
Joe takes listeners through the 150-year history of the hospital—from its beginnings as an overcrowded refuge for the poor in the 1850s, to the scandals that rocked the institution in the 1870s, to its transformation into a massive state hospital complex with its own farms, wards, and burial grounds.
Rob and Joe then recount their visit to the grounds, exploring the red-brick buildings, the quiet lanes, and most haunting of all—the Cemetery in the Pines, where thousands of unmarked graves rest beneath the shadowed trees.
They discuss the atmosphere of the site, the heavy sense of history in the air, and the lingering stories that refuse to fade.

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