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Temporarily Closed - Built in 1856, Hawthorn State Asylum was designed to house the most disturbed and dangerous patients from around the midwest. It was the last stop for persons too violent for other facilities. Conditions inside the Asylum became horrible due to overcrowding and loss of funding. The facility's extreme use of lobotomies, electric shock treatment and torture contributed to its eventual closure. However, it was a horrific event that finally closed its doors forever. Under a full moon on August 23rd, 1948, a riot erupted throughout the complex. A small group of especially devious patients had finally had enough of the treatment and managed to set several fires and free the other patients during the mayhem. After police were able to regain control and the smoke cleared, the full horror of the massacre was revealed. 53 dead: 31 patients and 22 staff. The doors were locked, windows boarded over, and Hawthorn State was left to rot in the hopes that all could be forgotten. Rumors quickly began of ghosts, strange happenings and the screams of all those who burned to death inside. In the late 1970's, a new urban legend swirled around the now dilapidated and crumbling building. Stories of a strange man living inside. Stories of a man with a hook for a hand. Stories of a man who kidnapped, tortured and killed. Stories of a disfigured man who carried away his victims in a large, bloody burlap bag. And after the police finally recovered several sacks full of the body parts of missing persons, he became forever known as The Bagman. He was never found, but even to this day, it is said he still roams the halls of the old Asylum, waiting for his next victims.
- Scary
