This Hauntingly Beautiful Sanitarium Is Being Reclaimed by Nature

Years ago, sanitariums were spread out all around the country. These were health resorts that were incredibly popular for their healing effects and, before modern medicine, made big leaps forward for health care. These are oftentimes confused with “sanatoriums,” but the two are entirely different.

Sanitariums are health resorts that people would travel to in order to deal with a number of ailments, while sanatoriums were medical facilities in which people would go for long-term illness treatments.

And while there were dozens of these scattered around the country, today we will be taking a closer look at one in particular.

The Jackson Sanitarium is located in Danville, N.Y. and opened way back in 1870. Construction on the resort began in 1854 and the location was chosen because of its proximity to the “healing” waters that ran through the area at the time. At the time (pre-modern medicine) it was believed that sulfur-rich waters in certain springs could heal everything from various aches and pains to things like anxiety and depression.

The location was opened for decades and had a number of different services offered over the years. The creator of the building and the program there believed that maintaining a strict diet of veggies and fruit (without red meat, alcohol and coffee) would help you be healthier. At the time, this was almost unheard of. Funny enough, the man behind this location (named Caleb Jackson) is also the man credited with inventing the popular healthy snack, granola.

While the location (and others like it) were fairly successful throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, advances in modern medicine soon led to more and more people not believing in the water cures. With the business failing fast, they pivoted and turned it into a place called The Physical Culture Hotel in 1929, which was a retreat for the wealthy as well as a general hospital.

But in 1971, the resort and hospital finally shut its doors and called it quits. The lack of visitors and almost no patients residing there anymore led it to shutdown. Today, the structure is decaying and is currently becoming a part of nature as it has decayed over the years.

And while most of the furniture inside has been sold and is long gone, there is still a ton of gorgeous architecture and furnishing to be seen there. And while there aren’t any historical stories of tragedy or experiences of paranormal activity here to report, the location still has a creepy vibe to it as a whole.

Just the fact that is has been abandoned for decades and still has some remnants of the past can make it appear like it may be haunted. But while it may look creepy to some, there is no denying that it is also beautiful to look at. However, the building may not be abandoned and vacant for long as, in 2008, the New York government allotted $2.5 million to restore the building.