Growing up in Southern California, there are a few places that I would consider truly haunted that many if any get to visit or explore. Having lived in the city of Downey and Los Angeles for most of my childhood and adultlife until 2018, there is one place that exists today partially that is truly haunted called Rancho Los Amigos Hospital or once called the Hollydale Insane Asylum.
I have also found the paranormal intriguing especially the spiritual realm which I believe does exist. Having grew up in Los Angeles, there have been and are many hot spots one can visit that you just know something dwells there, most likely evil.
Today there are a ton of shows that dig deep into the paranormal like UFO’s, Bigfoot, and Ghost. Maybe you have had some experiences yourself.
This place has existed since the 1800’s but has been closed down for over 30 years.
Recently there was a major fire which destroyed parts if not all the Asylum. From what I have heard it was going to be torn down to make way for stadium of some sort, so maybe it was planned.
Here is the article:
The origins:
Hollydale was built in the late 1800s for the mentally ill, disabled, and the homeless. With its success came thousands of patients. In the 1950’s this town became a part of the city of Downey and thirty years later it was shut down, because it had fallen into disrepair. It’s a shame that they couldn’t keep it running, because it seems like it truly helped thousands.
The southern campus of the Rancho Los Amigos Hospital is often referred to as the “Hollydale Mental Hospital” or the “Downey Insane Asylum”. Built in 1888 as a catch-all institution for the Los Angeles County medical center; a place to care for the handicapped, homeless, insane and elderly. The hospital located in the former town on Hondo, which was absorbed by Downey in the 1950’s. Funded by the county bond money, it was simply called the County Poor farm. Here, able-bodied residents could work on a large farm which sustained most the hospital’s dietary needs, in lieu of paying for room and board and medical care.
The 600 acres if property also encompassed an aviary, zoo, and rail lines used for freight and passengers. Unclaimed bodies of residents who died at the poor farm were buried at a potter’s field nearby, which has since been relocated.
In 1918, the Spanish influenza epidemic hit the area and the facility began to treat all victims rather then just the indigent and the word “poor” was simply stricken from the name of the facility. The hospital expanded greatly in the 1920s to alleviate over crowding conditions and rebuild flood damaged structures after flooding in 1914. In 1932 the name of institution changed to Rancho Los Amigos, which translates to “Ranch of the Friends”. Becoming place that offered activities to receive physical therapy and occupational therapy; swimming, woodworking and weaving provided to help restore broken limbs and spirits.
During World War II, the U.S. army turned part of the hospital grounds into Camp Morrow, and at the same time the facility operated as an emergency hospital. It was reorganized once again as a long term care facility after the war, mostly for the victims of polio. Entire wards filled with Iron lungs in the 1950s. The discovery of the Salk polio vaccine in 1955 put most of the machines in storage, a few operated at Rancho for children who were given a bad batch of the vaccines years after.
By the late 1950s, the farm, dairy and mental health wards had closed and most of the 600 acre property was divided and sold. Rancho continued to operate as a modern chronic-disease hospital, and later a world renowned rehab center. All of these operations were consolidated and moved to the north campus, a 62 acre hospital that still operates today. The 70 acres became a ghost town with shuttered treatment buildings. The actual date of the closure of the south campus is uncertain, but it is known that the buildings there were used as storage by 1988.
Today the U.S. marine corps occasionally uses the south campus for military drills. At one point during one of the exercises, a freezer in a former pathology building had a full package of mummified body parts. The coroner’s office identified 10 legs, feet and brain matter and determined these were amputated medical specimens. Here is an article on the findings : Decades-Old Body Parts Found in Abandoned Downey Hospital; No Foul Play, Officials Say – Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
The newest development is in fact “Ghost Adventures” one of my favorite paranormal shows with the likes of
Zak Bagans
Aaron Goodwin
Billy Tolley
Titled “Hollydale Asylum of Hell” in their season 30 Ep 3. – https://www.discoveryplus.com/shows/ghost-adventures/s30/74a0b187-22a7-47ee-8132-bf9fd15f86cc/e3-hollydale-asylum-of-hell/b0f69e28-b371-485f-9593-17796dbc380e
This episode is one that I have waiting particulary a long time for but could understand why it may have taken so long as it was probably incredibly difficult to gain access and permission as it is considered dangerous for structurual reasons, although there are many who appear to gain access illegally to perform sinister rituals, so if you can watch on HBO Max or Discover Plus, please do.
Lastly, what made this episode so shocking was when Aaron Goodwin’s wife was arrested for plotting to have him killed.
Here are those who have explored , often times without permission:
I give credit where its due, please review this website where I was able to get some of my information: https://opacity.us/site237_rancho_los_amigos.htm
https://www.notracers.com/post/abandoned-downey-insane-asylum
Please note that this piece originally written in 2020 below if you wish to get the original blog which talks about my experience with the paranormal as well.
Joe Meyers Adventures 