New Jersey State Village for Epileptics

The North Princeton Developmental Center, formerly known as the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics, was a medical facility within Montgomery Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. The facility was home to a variety of mental health institutions throughout the years. In 2011, the former self-sustaining mental health village was slated for demolition to make space for a proposed county park. Demolition was completed in 2012 with plans to begin construction of the conceptual park in 2013. The facility garnered much notoriety over the past decades due to its "ghost town" appearance and mention in the popular book and periodical, "Weird N.J." Until its demolition, the former hospital was a popular place for "urban explorers" to explore, despite the buildings being unsafe (partially due to asbestos and lead paint contamination. Urban explorers were often met with resistance from law enforcement, as the site was prone to criminal activity, ranging from graffiti to arson. Prior to the demolition of the site, state and local governments have both made reasonable attempts to keep trespassers out, for example by sealing the entrances and windows of the property, though these methods proved to be relatively ineffective.

The facility came into existence in 1898 after former Governor Foster M. Voorhees signed a bill into law that established the New Jersey State Village for Epileptics. Intended to subvert the admittance of epileptic patients into insane asylums and other unnecessarily harsh environments, the State Village for Epileptics offered this group a much more supportive and decent atmosphere in which they could thrive. The State Village was designed to be a completely autonomous community; within its boundaries were educational and medical facilities, a theater, a fully functional farm, a firehouse, a water treatment facility, an on-site landfill, housing, and even a power plant. The institution was considered to be an exemplary and progressive facility targeted at the treatment of epileptics.

In later years, namely throughout the Great Depression and World War II, the State Village suffered from financial cutbacks, which resulted in understaffing and overcrowding of the facilities. The dismal state of the institution during these times earned it the popular name, “The Snake Pit of New Jersey”.

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