When I was a teenager in Colorado there existed an abandoned building in Arvada. The site was the former home of the Colorado State Home and Training School, also known as Ridge Home; also known as the Home for Mental Defectives; and naturally kids shared stories of the haunted "insane asylum."
I initially started this blog with the intention of playing up spooky stories in time for Halloween, but what I found was that the true history of the old Ridge Home is much darker than most ghost stories. Using the Western History subject index newspaper index and clipping files I found a history of articles detailing the complicated history of the institution.
Article after article outlined the problems Ridge Home had over the decades it was open.
- In the 1940s forced sterilization was practiced on a regular basis.
- In the 1950s one newspaper article quoted an administrator who said that many of the Home's adult patients were far too mentally competent to be in the home, but were there because their families had abandoned them. He blamed poor testing practices and the patient's youth when admitted for the oversight.
- In the 1970s parts of the campus were ordered closed, because of cracks in the walls and foundation caused shifting ground.
- Fire safety was also deemed inadequate as the buildings were lacking both fire escapes and viable exit paths in case of emergency.
- In the 1980s there were reports of residents being neglected due to under staffing and lack of funding for proper staff training.
- At least one member of the staff was sent to prison after being convicted of abusing multiple patients and bragging about it to friends.
A 1988 newspaper article reports constant breaks-ins by thrill-seeking teenagers and homeless people looking to get warm.
By 1992 Ridge Home was closed for good.
Having been abruptly abandoned due to funding cuts the building was still filled with beds, equipment, and toys in the years following its closure. Walls were covered with graffiti tags and asbestos was leaking from torn steam pipes.
Not every story of the home was focused on financial trouble and abuse charges, over its long history there were also plenty of caring staff and administrators.
A Denver Post article from 1959 reported that the 670 children in the institution called the superintendent, Edith Raftery, mom. The paper also mentioned the high quality care she was known for dispensing and that she hadn't taken a vacation from the home in over 17 years. In June 1955 a graduation ceremony held at the home for five residents who received their high school diplomas.
The majority of the problems over the years at the Ridge Home consistently pointed back to inadequate funding that kept it from addressing its myriad of problems.
Whether the rumors of the abandoned center being haunted are true or not, it's checkered past is certainly haunting. The building no longer stands and is now the site of a large chain store, but its history can be reviewed via Western History and Genealogy's reference resources.
Comments
Hi Eddie, it sounds like you
Hi Eddie, it sounds like you had a very positive impact on the residents and families, just as they impacted you. Thank you so much for reading and sharing your experience with us!
I'm so happy to have read
I'm so happy to have read this kindness. I remember being about 5 or 6 and we went to visit my sister there. My mother told me the doctors had referred her there for testing. She had been there for two weeks and when we walked in she was screaming and crying not to leave her there. It was 1965 in May. It was so heartbreaking. She stayed with us up until she was 45. God rest her soul.
Actually, it has to still be
Actually, it has to still be standing. My friend took me there once. We crawled through a ground enterancr beneath the buildings and climbed thru a broken air duct to get inside. There were children drawings everywhere and all kinds of rooms filled with home and school stuff. In fact I opened an employees locker and found a really cool rolling stone magazine. I took it- which was a mistake. I also lost my wedding ring from my boyfriend who passed away. It was really important to me. So I had to return the magazine the next day where I got it as well as look for my wedding ring. As soon as i threw it back in the locker I got a nose bleed from the dry air and we had to leave immediately. I started to crawl back up the ground entrance and sitting at the top of the metal ladder was my ring. Freaked us out a lot, but we actually got everything on tape- I just haven't done anything with the footage yet in fear that we would get in trouble for trespassing obviously. I don't think the place felt like dark energy, just kind of sad. It was actually very pretty and looked like a nice home inside. Has anyone else been inside? And if anyone does go- don't take anything... and watch out for the squatters.
Is there any others ways you
Is there any others ways you can get in?
When it was abandoned,
When it was abandoned, friends and I would sneak in and get high. There were cages in the basement. Cages that looked like they were built for people. It was a dark tunnel system that was spooky to take your friends through. I was in there enough I was sited for trespassing.
Stumbled upon a guy named Joe
Stumbled upon a guy named Joe Arridy I believe he was a patient in 1925. The only man who smiled while on death row. Sounds like he was framed for the Drain murder by the sheriff for a 1,000 reward. That might explain some of the murder stories.
My grandmother worked there
My grandmother worked there in the 70's. She would often bring different children home with her around the holidays to spend time with our family (I had not been born yet, so I never had the pleasure to them). She was the nurse who passed out the medication to the extremely insane in the males wing. One of them almost took her life... I will not spare the gory details, because it is not something that should be remembered about this place. However, after a long recovery, my grandmother went back to work there in the same area and position, because she loved it that place. Ridge home became the sanctity to some many that were abandoned by their families; the staff was very committed and became a mother or father to those who were called mutants, degenerates, insane, a burden to society... I am sad that a place like Ridge Home who did so much good, was ultimately shut down due to lack of funding. Now it is a damn Target, because we REALLY need another shopping center... Also, there is still one of the buildings that is open and running... I am not sure who/what community college operates out of there, but it is to get CNA license.
I take care of one of those
I take care of one of those residents that was admitted to Ridge as a young child. I will not disclose how this young adult was gotten out of there, but from the horror stories I was told by family members it saddens me to know that people are so cruel. This person has so much personality, is a loving soul. I wish I could have known this person before these so called doctors and care-givers got their hands on this person. What's really really horrifying, there are still care-givers out there that are still severally abusing these people !!!! Unfortunately the abuse of this person wasn't over yet. This person endured many more years of severe abuse !!! I am happy to say the abuse has now stopped, and this person will live out the latter years of life being properly cared for, and genuinely loved.
Now they're building an
Now they're building an apartment complex on the property. During excavations they dug through a mysterious white and grey ash layer on a corner of the property.
I have recently met a women
I have recently met a women who met her husband there. I am glad i ran across this as it helps me to understand her more. what a horrifying experience for these people.