Photo's taken in 2002 Music : It will never be the same again / Mike Turcotte ( Copyright MTM 2025 )
From Google AI ------------------------------------------------------------------
The Essex County Tuberculosis Sanatorium in Middleton, MA, opened in 1921 as a 350-bed hospital. Located on an 88-acre hilltop, it was once a completely self-sufficient facility. The sanatorium was phased out after World War II due to new antibiotics and closed in the 1960s. Today, the site is occupied by the Middleton Jail & House of Correction.
The sanatorium relied on fresh air, heat lamps, and isolation to treat tuberculosis patients before the invention of antibiotics.
Because tuberculosis was highly communicable and often fatal, sanatorium operations occasionally featured stark realities for the patients. Historical records show that the facility's extensive tunnel system was used in part to secretly transport deceased patients off-grounds. This was intentionally done in an effort to keep morale higher among the recovering patients on the upper floors.
Following its closure in the 1960s, the original sanatorium property sat under county jurisdiction. In 1991, the Essex County Sheriff's Department opened the medium-security Middleton Jail and House of Correction at the Manning Avenue location, completely repurposing the former hospital footprint.
