The Ridges Tour

I had the opportunity to take a little tour of The Ridges. I work up here every day, but there are lots of parts of the buildings that are closed to the public. I had been in several of these areas before, but I had never seen the stain.

In the late 1970s, a patient named Margaret wandered into an abandoned ward of the hospital, and got locked in. Hospital staff searched for her, but did not find her. After she realized that no one was coming for her, Margaret took off all her clothes, folded them neatly on the windowsill, and laid down on the floor with her arms crossed over her chest. There she died, and was not found for a few weeks. Her body decomposing in the direct light from the windows created a stain that cannot be removed.

I've seen many pictures of the stain before, but it was entirely different to see it in person. It's really sad, and also creepy. We also visited the basement, the attic, the alligator room. I hope they renovate the entire Ridges some day, because these buildings are incredible.



Click here for photos.