Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum

I love architecture and watching ghost hunting shows and was really excited to visit. A lot of information about the history of psychiatry and artwork created by the patients on display. There are several different tours to choose from and my kids who are 10, 13, and 15 even enjoyed it and want to come back. Bryce gave a great tour. Reasonable prices for tours and in the gift shop. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are pet friendly too, so if you’re traveling with your dog you don’t have to bypass this stop.

Amazing tours - both historic & paranormal were very enjoyable. My favorite was the historic tour, which was led by a guide that was on his first day with them. Nick was amazing & worth the extra time. Thank you for allowing the public to experience it!

John was an excellent tour guide! Between his personal stories of growing up near the asylum and the history of the facility, the tour was beautifully immersive. Next time Im in the area, Ill absolutely come back!

Absolutely incredible experience and place to visit. A true wonder and after you step through the front doors, there’s no doubt the place is haunted. Nick was our tour guide, and we absolutely loved having him as our guide. This place is a gem for history lovers and ghost hunters alike!

Beautiful building with lots of sad, but interesting history! We did both the 90 min history tour and the criminally insane tour, and it still didn’t feel like enough! There is much to see! All staff was knowledgeable and friendly. Would love to go back for a paranormal tour. Highly recommend! My only suggestion would be to allow online ticket purchase in advance. Coming from over 6 hours away, it was a little nerve wracking not knowing if we were guaranteed tickets or not. We made sure to arrive when gates opened, but buying in advance would have been great.

There is so much going on here, it's hard to put it all into a review. There are tours offered for everybody for any interest. My wife and I took a 4 floor 90 minute tour. First of all, this place is massive. It is absolutely huge, and you learn that real fast as you walk through it. The architecture is amazing, and there are little things about how it was built that are pointed out on the tour that are very interesting. The history of the facility is both haunting and interesting. Shelly our guide is from the area, and grew up around the facility. She shared some personal stories, and some pretty in depth history. She really put a human touch on everything, and made you think about things from the patient's perspective as well as the staff's perspective, coupled with what was known or not known medically/scientifically at the time. Absolutely a must visit.

My wife and I visited on a Sunday. We did the 90 min 4-floor tour and the 45 min criminally insane tour. Jeremiah was our tour guide for both tours and he was fantastic. It was very interesting learning about the history and layout of this massive facility. You could tell Jeremiah really cared about history and shared his passion with us. We would love to come back for the paranormal tours as well. They are actually dog friendly but it was a pretty hot day and we worried about bringing our spoiled dog. All of the staff were very kind. There's several museum areas that were very interesting and informative. I definitely recommend visiting and ask for Jeremiah. Make sure to visit the gift shop as well.

Very cool place to visit. So rich in creepy history. Great tour, very inexpensive place to go for a day trip or the night lock in. I hope they start a nightly room rental. This would probably be ok for older children.

It was a dark and stormy day... Please forgive the cliche, but that's how you would describe the weather the day we toured the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (TALA). Absolutely perfect weather! We had some time to kill, so we decided to take a couple of tours at the TALA, of which there are many to choose from. We intended to focus on the Paranormal Tour, which is 90 minutes long, but had almost a full hour before that tour would start. So, we opted to fill out time with the 45 minute historical tour. Rose, our guide, was a exceptional, and she knew the answers to all our questions, and never once said, "I'll have to get back to you." She was a fount of knowledge, and a delight to hang with. This tour focused on the origins of the hospital/asylum, the highlights of its darkest and brightest days, and what lead to it being abandoned, and later bought by private citizens for historical purposes. This tour was enjoyable, and we learned some astounding facts about life at the TALA, especially in the early years. Our next tour was the Paranormal, which focused on the--unexplained. I'm not a hard "no" when it comes to the supernatural, but I'm not an easy sell, either. Let me say this: if ever there was a building haunted by its past, this would be it! The tour almost completely avoided the history of the building, and focused on the more colorful historical accounts that lead to hauntings and ghost sightings. We toured every floor in this behind the scenes exposure, and we loved every moment! To our delight, our guide, Alysa, greatly reminded us of Wednesday Adams, but was eager to answer questions and offer some interesting interpretations of the unexplainable. We did NOT see any haunts, but there were rooms that were creepier than others, and I'm leaning toward reluctance if asked to spend the night by myself! They had a collection of photos snapped by tourists that were certainly compelling, to say the least. The weather made our trip amazing, but Alysa made it legendary. Somehow, she seemed to possess the ability to anticipate blasts of thunder, and timed her deliveries with impactful timing! If I could, I'd return on Halloween--but only if she could be our tour guide again. #todaysdiscovery #traviswinmanauthor

Awesome place, great tour (we did 90 minutes with John), lots of information to think about. I will recommend visiting this place to everyone!

5 stars! The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum opened in the mid-1800s and housed patients until the 1990s. Today, it is a historical museum that offers tours. On the day of my tour, I purchased tickets in person. The museum was offering six different tours: a 45-minute tour of the first floor, a 90-minute tour of four floors, a 90-minute VIP Gothic tour (?), an 8-hour overnight Ghost Hunts tour, a 90-minute paranormal tour, and a 60-minute Criminally Insane tour. Prices ranged from $10 to $100. I chose the 90-minute tour of four floors for $30. My tour guide was a family member of the owner. She was, of course, very knowledgeable about the building and history, and she even gave us an extra 30 minutes of information for free. I felt very interested in walking around the hallways, patients' rooms, doctors' apartments, nurses' quarters, medical center, etcetera. I felt very interested also in learning about the patients' living conditions and medical treatments. The building was designed to house 250 patients, but it was so overcrowded that it housed up to 10 times as many patients! The hospital was very underfunded and understaffed. A physician had performed lobotomies that resulted in brain damage and infections, and physicians also prescribed poisons such as arsenic and strychnine!

It's been on my bucket list for several years to visit this haunted insane asylum. I was lucky enough to tie it into a rafting trip this past weekend and I was blown away because the facility is massive. We went on the daytime paranormal ghost hunting tour and they walked us through all four floor is the facility and told interesting stories of some of the nefarious activities going on during this time. I think that I want to come back during Halloween and do the haunted house which is in the old tuberculosis center and my wife would really love to do a history tour of the facility as well. There are multiple tours the guides are fantastic and you can easily spend several hours in this facility

Omg!!! This is a place every person in todays world must experience. this location and this very real historical institution for the mentally ill is a day long trip through time and technology, barbaric processes that for some reason were at one point deemed therapeutic. Today we label these barbaric. This location, of course, has its haunts and myths, which make it even that more fascinating of a visit, but it is also a lesson learned in trial and error of mankind's attempts at figuring things out. there was a lot of tragedies that occurred here, and one can only hope that history does not repeat itself. But I do believe that a visit to the trans Allegheny lunatic Asylum will definitely help to insure that each visitor that does go will not allow a repeat of this history. 5 stars to the docents, the exhibits, the vast array of information and the layout of each of the tours that are available. It's worth very Penny to go on any of the tours offered

John Sandy is half man and half legend. If you're driving anywhere through the area, you'd be insane NOT to come in!

During our visit we were privileged to have had an exceptional experience, largely due to the unparalleled expertise of our tour guides, Savanna and Connie. We took the 1ST FLOOR TOUR (with Connie) and THE CRIMINALLY INSANE TOUR (with Savanna). Their extensive knowledge and informative insights not only enhanced our understanding of the historical significance of the asylum, but also provided us with a richly captivating and fun experience that we will not soon forget! Thank you!

Fascinating and sad historical building and treatment of the mentally ill. Beautiful historic Kirkbride style building that fortunately has been preserved.Also of note is the patient's art- some by children.? Beautiful grounds- highly recommend.,

Absolutely fantastic place and a very well ran ghost hunt. My husband and I took the overnight tour in the main building with Lakesha as our tour guide. She was very informative and respectful of the spirits and made sure others were also which was much appreciated. We got some great evidence and I can't wait to share on our Facebook page. We actually had our guides name come thru the ghost box and she said that was her first ever hearing it. Would love to get the video to her! Thank you guys again and we will definitely be back!! 5 stars is not enough!

Feels like home went for an overnight investigation. Everyone that worked there was great with sharing the history and telling you the best locations to investigate. They let you roam free on your floor and meet back after a time and move to other areas and it was just amazing.

Great history lesson on treatment of mentally ill in the last part of nineteenth century through the 1990s. I'm glad this place has been preserved. Go when not too hot or cold. It's a large open building with no heat or air. Several tours available.

Eye opening tour. The first floor tour is easy for mobility impaired, but does include some steps.

We took the VIP tour. Greg, our guide, was fantastic. I would recommend touring the facility to anyone. The history and architecture are amazing. They have restored sections and unrestored sections to tour. I'm excited to go back and do a more extensive tour with some of the out buildings.

We enjoyed the 4-floor tour very much. I learned a great deal about the horrific practices in vogue during the years the asylum was functioning--the procedures were gruesome and barbaric, yet advertised as desirable and producing "successful" results--now that is terrifying, even more so than ghosts, at least to this reviewer! I was very moved by the suffering as well as the resourcefulness of the many patients who were involuntarily committed (and according to one report many thousands died here...difficult to believe there are other places even larger, with even higher death counts than this asylum...) I also noticed the considerable discrepancy in the patients' stark living quarters and the comparative spaciousness and luxury of those "in charge." I would be interested in going back to visit the other buildings or taking the 5-hour tour....there is so much history here. The tour guides are friendly and very knowledgeable, and will share many colorful and interesting local facts and stories. The local area is quirky (we found it interesting how closely the surrounding neighborhoods bordered the grounds of the asylum). No doubt, the asylum is a grim place with a highly disturbing past--and the information can be a little overwhelming at times--but I'm so glad this is here and open to the public as a reminder of a sordid but important chapter in history. Well worth a visit. (If you have time, the Museum of American Glass is not far away, and also worth a visit...) A great, quick and close food option is Dave's Famous T and L Hotdogs....I was also happy to find a Long John Silvers in town, which seem to have become nonexistent in the DMV area...next time I hope to spend more time not only touring the asylum but also around town...

I Love there flashlight tours, paranormal tours they even have Ghost Hunts. Every year for the month of October they have a great haunted house!

This was such an awesome tour. Our guide, Amy, was amazing. She went way above and beyond to ensure that we got to see everything we were interested in, answered all of our questions, had some great jokes, and interesting stories about paranormal investigation/experiences had at this site over the years. She was so knowledgeable and all of the staff members were so nice. It's a great touch that the tour guides are all dressed as nurses from the 50s-70s era too! The tours are cheap and well worth the trip. It also doesn't hurt that the route to get to Weston, WV is gorgeous! I wish we lived closer because I would definitely love to go back again!

I did the paranormal and criminally insane tours yesterday. Both were great. Our guides were friendly and really knew their stuff. Alyssa was excellent!

Amazing experience today taking the 4 floor historic tour with John, he was extremely knowledgeable as well as entertaining. 90 minutes went very quickly in learning the history and background of this unique and sometimes disturbing institution. No spoilers, but you must go and your see for yourself. Wonderful way to see this odd period in the history of mental health. East to show up and take a tour. Halloween events look more limited so plan accordingly!

This review is for the historic tour of main building. We traveled 2 1/2 hours to Weston, West Virginia, to see this former state hospital. The building is quite impressive especially upon learning construction was started before the Civil War. It is the largest building of hand cut masonry in North America. It is second in the world to Russia's Kremlin. It was in operation from 1864 to 1994. Tours are offered daily. Upon entering, you must sign waiver on computers. It only takes a few minutes. There are different tours available and I suggest that the website be checked for details. Our tour was the 4 floor tour of the main building and cost $30 per person. It runs about 90 minutes and involves a lot of walking. We were given tags to wear while in the building. Our tour guide was Amy and she was very knowledgeable. The hospital is a National Historic Landmark but fell into disrepair after it was forcibly closed. It is presently privately owned and funded through donations, sales of tours, gift shop and events. The on-going restoration is a gigantic task, but the progress made is amazing. Photos are displayed throughout the tour of what was original, the disrepair and restoration efforts. The tour focuses on the treatment/ mistreatment of patients and the changes of caring for these forgotten people. It was quite sad at times to think what was endured. The building was meant to house 250 patients and the population increased to over of 2000 patients. This led to mainly warehousing individuals. Our guide was very good at describing treatments and pointing out different aspects. This site has been featured on various paranormal tv shows. Paranormal tours are offered. We plan on returning at a later time to experience that. If one is near Weston, West Virginia, I really recommend visiting the hospital and supporting the restoration. It was fascinating.

This was an awesome experience! I've always wanted to check this place off of my WV list, and our tour guide Jill knocked it out of the park. What a great/ educational experience.

What an experience! We decided to stop here on our way back home from our road trip to New River Gorge National Park. There is just so much history in this place, along with some horrid details from the past. This place really puts in perspective how much we as a society have advanced in patient care, as well as employee welfare. There are multiple different tours with some midnight options to really increase the spook factor. Loved the fact that this place allowed us to bring our Corgi for the tour. Highly recommended from BringFido and definitely didn't disappoint.

Please see my full online review at phantommemorandum.com I feel like I hit a gold mine in West Virginia. I visited some of the places I've been wanting to visit for years, and Trans-Allegheny was no exception. Stunning architecture in the vast building. Interesting stories. I took the paranormal tour and it was one of the best tours I've ever taken. Valerie is nothing short of fantastic.

We drove 4 1/2 hours to take my husband here for Father's Day. He, our 6 year old daughter and myself all loved it! It's a beautiful building, I can only imagine how amazing it was back in its prime. We took the 90 minute history and paranormal VIP tour. Our guide was fantastic and we also got to meet her husband in passing. In one of the doctors private offices we first went into I had an overwhelming urge to throw up and I thought I was going to pass out. As soon as we left that room I was perfectly fine for the rest of the tour. I never said anything until later to my husband and told me he had a similar feeling in the same room! Now i wish we had said something. My daughter requested that we return closer to halloween so she can talk again to Lily.

It wasn't spooky at all and there were orbs caught on camera but that's all. I've seen orbs and full apparitions at my farm.

4-stars for the educational bits and history and the gentle push to learn the truth about the (mis)understanding and (mis)treatment of mental health issues and self-serving initiatives. 1-stars for the side-show atmosphere that necessarily runs through it; kinda pathetic that it has come to this. 4-stars as a reminder for the ages of the bad results that flow from good intentions. I'm not sure what I was hoping to see here and for the most part I am satisfied that I won't. It started out as a 'Who dat?' moment... which led to a morbid curiosity about stereotypical inmates and their "treatments" and ultimately to a rational curiosity about irrationality in a not too distant past. We arrived late in the day after following the signs, too late for any tour. The magnificence of the compound itself cannot be denied, someone put a lot of thought and effort into building this place. The couple of historical displays up front provide impetus for further research and kudos for that. A more complete review of the available materials is necessary before putting this one to rest...

My boyfriend and I traveled about 2 hours to visit Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum for the first time last weekend. We are very interested in all things paranormal and haunted. We ended up spending two days touring the asylum. During our first day we went to the haunted house- Ward 24. It was great and had a lot of spooky things to offer that other haunted houses we have been to did not have. You will have to see for yourself! Later that evening, we did the flashlight tour. Our guide took us in areas that housed violent patients and talked about different paranormal activity that has happened in those locations. During our second day touring the asylum we did the two hour paranormal tour. Our guide was very informative and took us through many different hot spots in the asylum. You could feel the history there, it is a feeling I cannot explain. There were certain areas that I felt a very heavy presence. We also did the criminally insane tour. This tour is in a separate building behind the asylum. The guide talked about the few escapes they had there and what kind of criminals they housed. Overall, our visit to the asylum was great and we did learn a lot. We stayed at Stonewall Resort, which is 15 minutes from the asylum.

Had a WONDERFUL TIME. Shay was a great guide.. DH had his first paranormal experience.. we can't wait to come back to do another tour. Thanks Trans-Allegheny

Stayed at the nearby Stonewall Resort and saw a sign for the asylum off of the highway. Highly recommend doing the 4 floor tour. Zandel was awesome and answered any questions we had. Would definitely do it again.

We did the historical tour, our guides were excellent, the history and architecture are very intriguing, I would definitely recommend!!

This was my second time to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. My first trip here in 2019 exceeded my expectations! I was filled with information and cool personal stories about patients at the hospital. My tour guide was very friendly and you could tell she cared about her job. I loved it so much I wanted to bring my boyfriend back to see how awesome to was. ...Sadly, it did not impress either of us, despite PAYING MORE for a VIP tour versus the Four Floor Tour I took the first time on my visit in 2019. Our tour guide, Amy, was bland, did not give us much information, and constantly ran off to talk to other tour guides about random things and would leave us standing there awkwardly. The ending was the worst part, we spent 30 minutes kicking a ball around in a room seeing if a "ghost girl" will move it. WAS NOT WORTH $35!!!!!! Will not be back. If you go request to NOT get her and DON'T pay for the VIP Tour, just do the Four Floor. Much better and you see WAY MORE!!!

Exceeded my expectations. Great historical tour, and they were very sensitive to controversial nature of the topic of being both a historic attraction as well as it having been a hospital in recent memory.

We took the four floor tour and it was so cool to look around and hear about the history of the asylum! Our tour guide Harmon was very informative and kept us entertained! The museum on the first floor was really neat to look around too!

Great place for a day trip in WV. Kachina was a great tour guide. Set aside plenty of time to walk around and check out all the history.

This place was depressing. Our tour guide was excellent, but we took the regular 45-minute tour and I'd suggest springing for the longer ghost tour for a bit more entertainment if you're going to go. Also, heads up that the building was rescued from demolition by the current owner. The reason for the demolition? Asbestos. Have they taken care of the issue? No, and there's lead in the paint, so don't touch anything. And there's no heating or air conditioning. I felt so bad for the employees tbh. I'm not sure what I expected. At least there seemed to be an awareness about the place that "lunatic asylum" isn't really a PC term, and times have changed (although not as much as they should have!) as far as our perception and treatment of mental health issues. But I was left just feeling a little empty and a lot depressed. I'm depressed that this is a tourist attraction turned into entertainment with ghost tours and burlesque shows. This town was literally built around the lunatic asylum, for workers and such, so there's not a whole lot else going on. I guess my favorite parts involved hearing about the architecture and construction.

Bedlam was fun. They went through great lengths to create a fun scary experience and they were successful. My daughter and I had a blast. The group we were in was practically running out. LOL The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because of the Bedlam. We did the "Shadow People" flashlight tour and was not impressed. Tour is very rushed, tour groups running into each other.

This place is AMAZING!!!! On a road trip through the area we discovered that they offered tours here and decided to do the Historic Tour for $30 each. We visited on May 1st 2022. Our tour guide was BRAD and he was amazing!!! We ended up being the only ones in our time slot so we basically got a private tour. Brad provided tons of information (I still don't know how he remembers all that) about the hospital and the types of "treatments" that they performed here. You could tell that he is so passionate about his tours as he made sure that all our questions where answered before our tour ended. The architecture of the building is absolutely stunning. We really enjoyed it. When we booked this I was hoping that it wasn't going to be presented as a lame "haunted house" and I'll tell you it definitely was not! The topic of mental health was discussed in a respectful way and the exhibits on the first floor gave you a peek into the real life experiences of staff and patients that once lived here. I think that this should be a MUST SEE if you are in the area and definitely ask for BRAD as your tour guide, you won't regret it!!!

Beautiful building , the tours are extremely informative and interesting and let's you learn so much about the past.

Pretty cool place to check out. Definitely some cool history and creepy sights. Would have liked to have had some more time to explore during the tour, that is my only complaint.

Love this place love all tour guides! The spookiest floor in my opinion is the 4 floor

Outstanding place to visit. Very interesting history. Take the criminally insane tour or the 1st floor tour. We did the 4 story tour and it's too much to walk. If you do the CI Tour try to get Harmon...he's great.

This place is eerie, fascinating, and continually changing their exhibits and tours. I've been here twice, once for a tour of the main building, and another more recent tour focusing on the criminally insane, taking place in a large, odd cement building farther back on the property. I want to take the paranormal tours at some point, and also be able to do night photography after hours at some point. The tours touch on subjects that are harrowing, touching, beautiful, strange, and fascinating, reflecting the site's fascinating history. If you are anywhere near Weston, I highly recommend planning a visit here.

Did an overnight Ghosthunt and had an absolute blast! The building is big enough that they have 50+ people staying the night and you can pretty much do your thing unbothered. They separated our group into 5 groups of 8 or so people. Each group gets 1.5 hours in one of the 5 sections of the building at a time. The cool part is you're free to do basically whatever you want during that time. (minus Ouija boards of course!) We stayed in the main building. Me being very skeptical, being someone who has to see something to believe it, or in the case of when we stayed, hear it. Girlfriend and I were in the lobotomy recovery area, absolutely no one was around and we verified that. We heard very distinct footsteps and what sounded like something dragging on smooth concrete at the other side of this long room. Again, if I didn't experience this myself, I wouldn't have believed it. They were so defined we were convinced it was someone else in the group, only to find a very serious investigator (whom we thought originally was probably what we heard) up stairs doing his own investigation. And the rest of our group and guide was all together near the break area. Not saying I heard a ghost, but I definitely can't explain it. This was my second time here and every time I come here I swear I start to believe just a little more. Will definitely go back! First photo is from about a year ago, I'm convinced I see something behind the ball (I found turning the brightness up on your phone all the way helps!) other photos are from this visit, but nothing stands out! If you're thinking about visiting this place! Do it!

What an experience! Our guide John was fantastic! Incredible how we "treated" the mentally ill prior to modern drugs. I kept thinking of the movie "Frances" the actress who played "Joan of Arc" only to be lobotomized later in life. Truly worth the visit for the tour

This is one of my favorite places to see. The history behind the Asylum is enthralling. Katie was my tour guide (did the Historic Tour) this time and she did an amazing job. Cant wait to take the Criminally Insane tour!

It's like walking through a dream. You have to keep reminding yourself that this once homed the confused and lost under the guise of medicine. Each room held someone. Each hall was filled with sound and life. All here for treatment to cure. But now you see the peeling paint and broken windows. Those halls only now lead further into vacant buildings. And a disembodied pressure seems to whisper it's presence by a creak here or strange glimpse there. Trans-Allegheny is important as a kind of measurement of how our society treated mental illnesses back then and where we are now. It needs to be seen and felt first hand.

What a great place to visit and learn about a little piece of history. We had an amazing tour guide, Michelle. She was well versed, personable, and a local! Don't forget to tip your guide! And don't give them $1....dig a little deeper and tip them what they are worth! :) Thanks for a great 90 minutes of knowledge and entertainment.

We did the daytime paranormal tour. I would say if you really want to catch something, go at night. This is a tour of stories about other peoples experiences throughout the building. They are restoring the building. The history is cool, hearing it was closed a little over twenty years ago, is a little disturbing given the history.

We really enjoyed seeing a this history landmark. I work in the medical field and it's interesting to me, to see how medicine has progressed over the years, especially with mental health. (Unfortunately, still too much stigma and we've got a long way to go but that's a different discussion). We didn't experience anything "paranormal" on our 90 min VIP tour. Fortunately. that's not what I was going for.

Our tour guide Hardy, was amazing! He has such a great ability of describing how the asylum was back then and just how impactful it was to the state. Renovations show they care about the place... keep it up!