THE STORY
Reported Haunting
Opened in 1848, Trenton Psychiatric Hospital is one of New Jersey's oldest psychiatric institutions and has inspired countless ghost stories. Former employees, visitors, and paranormal investigators have reported apparitions, disembodied voices, and unsettling activity in the historic buildings.
A man named Henry Cotton took over as the main doctor in 1907, but his methods were inhumane. He’d remove teeth, limbs, and organs because he believed that they had an involvement with mental illness. However, by removing stomachs, colons, and other vital organs, he had a high mortality rate, not to mention the others who died of infection. This procedure was still in place long after Cotton had left and finally ended somewhere around the 1950’s or 1960’s. Doctor Cotton has been seen here as well as patients who are missing limbs. Ghost hunters have picked up EVPs; the lab where these operations took place is said to be a hot spot.