Old Pittston Hospital

In the process of looking for photo lighting equipment, Lisa and I were invited to a place rarely scene by the general public, the Old Pittston General Hospital; specifically the 4th and 5th floors. The equipment was on the 4th floor nestled away in a couple of rooms used for storage of old artifacts, maps, and other assorted bits collected & preserved by Pittson Historical Society member/administrator, John Dziak.
(operating room)

 John had some photo equipment stored that had been used in prior film & photo sessions dealing with the history of Pittston and surrounding Wyoming Valley. Lisa had actually appeared in one of his films called "Haven on the Hill." It's the story of Esther Tinsley who was to become the first female Hospital administrator in the United States.
(another view of the operating room)

The Pittson Hospital is just along the Susquehanna River, south of Pittston, and not too far from the location of one of this regions most notable mine catastrophes - the Knox Mine disaster. The River Slope Mine, an anthracite coal mine owned by the Knox Coal Company, flooded when coal company management had the miners dig too close to the riverbed. Tunneling sharply upwards toward the Susquehanna River, the miners reduced the thickness of rock between the mineshafts and the river bed to about 6 feet (1.8 m) -- 35 feet (10.6 m) was considered the minimum for safety. This caused the waters of the river to break through into the mine. It took 3 days to plug the hole in the riverbed partially, which was done by dumping rail cars of sediment into the whirlpool formed by the water draining into the mine. 12 people died; 69 others escaped.
(the Susquehanna River with West Pittston on the opposite shore)

For the most part, the floors had been cleaned out, but there were a few interesting artifacts left behind. And not just those few pieces could send the 'willy's' up your spine, but the whole idea of the lives that came and went down its corridors. The living and the dead could still be imagined with every turn. The feeling of finality was tangible standing in the dim light of each room. Now I'm not used to urban exploration, nor is it my preference, but there I was, and so was my camera, and this opportunity would not go unnoticed.
(an autoclave)

On the other hand, Lisa was having a grand time of it. Poking around here and there like a child in F.A.O. Schwartz.
(one of its many corridors with Lisa on the hunt)

Terminator or Freddie Kruger, this mechanical hand/finger stretcher caused me to be joyous in the new, reformed, and highly technical medical times we live in ... that is if you can afford it. I was actually quite surprised to see it still lying there unattended. CLICK!

The feeling of finality. How many lives walked from this bed; how many were carried. This was the last view of many I suspect.
Thank you John Dziak.