#ridges asylum

Brought you by someone with autism!

I have a story from my recent wedding I'd like to share.

The ceremony and reception were held at The Ridges, an old mental asylum turned art museum in Athens, OH. I made a point of giving a brief history of the property to our guests, acknowledging the cruel treatment mental patients have faced at the facility, and honoring their humanity. I didn't want the venue for shock value, especially considering that our wedding party was made up almost entirely of mentally ill queer people.

During the reception I was talking to my spouse's grandmother, who had performed our ceremony, and learned that she herself had been locked up in an asylum! She was thankful for my little intro, and when I offered my condolences for her traumatic experience, she expressed how her mental struggles were a part of who she was. In fact, she said: "I wish there was a word to describe it other than mentally ill."

I told her there was a word! Neurodivergent!

And let me tell you, the way this little 89-year-old woman lit up.

"Neurodivergent! I love that!"

Ridges Asylum  Athens, Ohio

Ridges Asylum originally opened in 1874 and was known as the Athens Asylum for the Insane. It had two wings, one for the female patients and one for the male patients.

The most violent patients were housed at the outermost tip of each wing. By the start of the 1900s, the asylum had become dangerously overcrowded and rumors of inhumane treatment at the hands of overworked staff were building.

However, the asylum lasted longer than many from the same time, it was not officially closed until 1993. Some parts of the building are still in use, while other areas lie abandoned.

One of the most chilling sights is the outline of a body which remains where Margaret Schilling died in 1979. She apparently got lost in the disused part of the hospital in winter of 1978/79 and was not found for more than a month.

When the corpse was eventually removed it left a stain that could never be washed away. She is one of the many ghosts who is said to walk the asylum at night.