The South Carolina State Hospital

Stories from Bull Street

By: William Buchheit

Narrated by: Adam Lofbomm

Nearly two decades after it closed, the South Carolina State Hospital continues to hold a palpable mystique in Columbia and throughout the state. Founded in 1821 as the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum, it housed, fed, and treated thousands of patients incapable of surviving on their own. The patient population in 1961 eclipsed 6,600, well above its listed capacity of 4,823, despite an operating budget that ranked 45th out of the 48 states with such large public hospitals. By the mid-1990s, the patient population had fallen under 700, and the hospital had become a symbol of captivity, horror, and chaos. Author William Buchheit details this history through the words and interviews of those who worked on the iconic campus.

©2020 William Buchheit (P)2020 Tantor

Great Book

If your interested in real life asylums this is a great listen. The author wrote an amazing book. Highly recommend

Very interesting

This book was very interesting. It gave a lot of history and research facts as a relates to the history of mental health and wellness in our society.

Story review

I enjoyed the stories in this book. I can relate to a lot of them as I also worked in a state hospital that’s been closed down & have a family member who suffers from a mental illness.

Pretty good

Wanted to hear about the horror stories first hand, there was a few but more about peoples jobs.. not as shocking as expected

Good book to learn about the insides of the SC State Hospital

Very detailed stories of what it was like to work on the inside. If you are looking for a government perspective of the hospital, this book doesn’t do a good job of providing one. But it’s amazing of telling what it was like.