Haunted Locations Insane Asylums Mentano Insane Asylum
Haunted Locations - Insane Asylums
Manteno State Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located in rural Manteno Township in Kankakee County, Illinois.
The facility was authorized in 1927 by the 55th Illinois General Assembly with its first patients arriving in December 1930. In 1954 the patient population peaked at 8,195. In 1983, the facility was authorized for closure by Governor James R. Thompson and closed on December 31, 1985.
In October, 1986 the Illinois Veterans home at Manteno was dedicated and still operates on a portion of the grounds of the original psychiatric facility while numerous other building have been demolished. There are very few buildings left, for example, the Morgan Cottage is left along with the sewage plant. These buildings are abandoned but left in original condition. Many other buildings have been renovated for other uses as of July 2009. The site was redeveloped as a VA home, an industrial park, and a portion of the grounds is now the Manento Municipal golf course. A state hospital cemetery is to the east of the site. The grounds are the now the home of numerous housing developments including a residential treatment center for males and females ages 12 to 21 called Indian Oaks Academy, which is a member of the Nexus family of treatment programs.
Manteno is reportadly haunted by its former inhabitants. Many of those who have entered have described the haunting sounds of voices, cries and screams, in addition to the feelings of sorrow, dread and fear. for many of its patients, Manteno was a place of horror, with barbaric treatments, such as Inslulin Treatment, Labotomy, Fever Cabinet, Dark Isolation, Hydro-Therapy, Electro-Shock therapy, Hysterectomy. In 1939, 453 people died from Typhoid Fever. Many escaped, others died from the inhumane experiments. For a facility that routinely housed 2,000 or more patients, the staff was minimal... around 200. Many were left for days in their own feces. Others were left without food. In its day, Manteno Insane Asylum was a place of torture.
