The forgotten history of sanatorium explored in book

BYRAM — The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Essex Mountain Sanatorium from Byram author Richard A Kennedy. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images of this New Jersey sanatorium.

Founded in 1907 amid protests and a burgeoning suffrage movement, Essex Mountain Sanatorium was the result of two Montclair women who successfully lobbied local government to establish a tuberculosis sanatorium in a then-vacant cottage for wayward girls.

From these humble beginnings, the hospital grew to become one of the finest treatment centers in the nation, expanding into a complex of 20 buildings that encompassed nearly 300 acres.

Ironically, medical advances pioneered at places such as the sanatorium and the advent of antitubercular drugs in the years following World War II led to decreasing patient enrollment, which made such large facilities unnecessary.

When it was eventually abandoned in the early 1980s, the hospital began its second act as a haven for urban explorers, vandals and arsonists, becoming shrouded in mystery and the source of local legends and myths. After suffering years of neglect and abuse, the main complex would finally fall to wreckers in 1993, ending an era in county, state and national history.

Highlights of the book:
Contains many rarely seen images from the private collections of local Verona residents, including respected historian Robert L. Williams.

Explains what early-to-mid 20th century Essex Mountain Sanatorium residents endured in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Essex Mountain Sanatorium was a controversial subject for many years. This book dispels the many rumors and myths about the hospital and shares what really happened within its walls.

Available at area bookstores, amazon.com, barnes&noble.com or through Arcadia Publishing at 888-313-2665.