Chestnut Lodge

Chestnut Lodge was a sanitarium in Rockville, Maryland that was built in 1866 and closed in 2001. It was run by a generation of psychiatrists in the Bullard family for a number of years and had many notable and renowned staff members during its time, as stated by this website. According to this New York Times article, Chestnut Lodge started out small and soon became one of the country's leading psychiatric hospitals. Many of the patients at the Lodge were severely disturbed and the primary form of treatment was psychoanalysis.

I interviewed Patricia Woodward who was the head nurse at the Lodge for many years. She looks back on her job fondly, and holds very strong opinions on treatment. Today she says that most doctors only give patients medicine, but that she has seen that medicine a long with necessary therapy works. Many of the staff members of the Lodge are even having a reunion soon.

The Lodge closed down due to a lack of funding and many of the patients were transferred. Woodward recalled that some of the patients continued to see their private doctors and lead normal lives in Rockville.

When questioned about possible hauntings at the Lodge, Woodward did not dismiss the idea as silly. She said that because of the Lodge's history, the imprints of the people were very strong and most likely still remain. Her husband and herself plan to move into the condominiums that are being built on the property and she wants to live on the floor that she worked on. She says that she may see some ghosts, but would not be afraid if she did, and she plans to relive many memories from her time spent there.