In 1896, a large portion of land was purchased by the City of Newark, New Jersey; the land was bought to build a new hospital to relieve pressure in the overcrowded Newark Hospital. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many buildings were built that housed patients and other facilities, such as a power house, laundromat, and theater. According to Weird New Jersey, in the winter of 1917, the hospital suffered a catastrophe with the failure of the hospital's boilers and 24 patients freezing to death in their beds. In the mid-1920s, the tri-state mental correction board bought the land and converted Overbrook into a mental institution. The Overbrook asylum ran on, adding several add-ons and new wards until its closure in the winter of 2007.
New hospital
In late 2006, the new Essex County Hospital Center opened just down the road from the site of the original Overbrook Hospital. This center houses chronically ill psychiatric patients in need of longer lengths of stay than are available in community hospitals and medical centers. The new center takes a cutting edge approach to behavioral health care and its layout and programs stand in stark contrast to the hundred-year-old facility it replaced. It is located at 204 Grove Avenue in Cedar Grove.
Future of the former hospital
After years of back and forth of what the old hospitals in Cedar Grove were to become, county spokesman Anthony Puglisi stated that the property of these hospitals will become a park. This statement was made in 2015 and the project was completed in 2017. The vast 77 acres purchased by the county now is partially a park. This is now the 23rd space to be added to the Essex County park system. The remaining space was turned into townhomes and condominiums.
The hospital was a major filming location for the 2007 film Subject 87.
The hospital was a major filming location for the 2008 film Choke.
In 2008, the hospital was featured on the paranormal reality series Ghost Adventures on the Travel Channel, but due to privacy, the name and location were not revealed.
In 2009, the hospital was featured on Syfy's paranormal reality showsGhost Hunters, Ghost Hunters: Live Halloween Countdown, and Ghost Hunters Academy.
Wheeler Antabanez has written extensively about The Essex County Hospital Center. contains videos, photos and essays about the abandoned hospital center including documentation of the demolition process.
The hospital is the featured location for the online interactive film . In the story, the hospital is referred to the fictional name of "Glenfield Psychiatric Hospital."
In 2017, a paperback book entitled was released by Arcadia Publishing detailing the history of the complex. The book contains both historical images of the hospital as well as recent photographs from the demolition.
