| City/Town: • Oklahoma City |
| Location Class: • Hospital |
| Built: • 1956 | Abandoned: • 1980 |
| Status: • Abandoned • Endangered • Private Property |
| Photojournalist: • AbandonedOK Team • Michael Schwarz |
In 1944 the Catholic Brothers of Mercy, a nursing order of Catholic Brothers, had started the organization of St. Vincent’s Home in a residence on North Shartel. After outgrowing the space in a short period of time, they had built a twenty-two-room facility on the property in 1952. The purpose of St. Vincent’s Home was to care for physically and mentally ill men and boys in the Oklahoma City area under Catholic direction. Quickly growing in admissions an addition was in the works by 1956. Charles Monnot & Associates (Monnot and Monnot) were architects for the project working with general contractors J.J. Bolinger Construction Company. The total cost of the modern hospital was around $105,900 with a $50,000 grant from Hill-Burton being applied as well. The new red brick addition would be two stories tall allowing space for twenty-three more patients as well as providing a chapel.
Superior Brother Bellarmine Salamon oversaw operations of the hospital providing patients with the word of God and providing them with a comfortable place to rest up and heal or pass on. They even had an annual carnival and magic shows to fundraise for the home. For many years St. Vincent’s Home for the Chronically Ill, one of the handfuls of names it went by, was relatively quiet in terms of being in the media. But unfortunately in 1962, St. Vincents made news headlines for an ungodly story.
On October 23, 1962, The Daily Oklahoman reported that a former male nurse had turned himself into Oklahoma City Police confessing to killing two patients at the St. Vincent’s Nursing home a year ago. Louis Andre Demers was only twenty-four years old when he killed the two men, his motive was “because I had tried to kill once and couldn’t do it. I wanted to find out how it felt.” His victims were Stewart Mitchell and William Ingraham whose deaths were said to be from natural causes. Demers had moved to Boston about a month after the killings where he went to attend school, having done some reflecting on his actions he went to the hospital knowing he must be sick. After speaking with psychiatrists and confessing to the killings they didn’t believe him because there was no proof. The officers standing before him didn’t believe him either and ordered a polygraph test. After the polygraph showed that he was telling the truth, Demers was examined by psychiatrists who deemed him to be mentally unfit to stand trial. He was then diagnosed with schizophrenia and sent to Central State Hospital in Norman for treatment. Shortly after he was released from CSH and went on to get his degree at Washburn University in Kansas and worked as a licensed mental health technician at Menninger Clinic for many years.
In 1968, Father Richard F. Dolan attempted to remodel St. Vincent’s Home into a rehab center for alcoholics. Renaming the facility to The Main Artery, the grounds were worked on by a 20-man crew of recovering alcoholics being treated by Dolan. Their labor was mostly volunteer-based except for a small “allowance”. Plans included the eventual renovation of two houses on the 10-acre tract of land but currently focused on the main building. The rehab facility once complete would have a capacity of 100 patients and cost about $1,200 a day to run. With the only source of money to make the changes being donations, Father Dolan who was also an artist sold some of his paintings to assist in the fundraising. Each Sunday a benefit breakfast was held for $2.50 per person to also help raise money. All psychiatrists, therapists and doctors volunteered to provide help. By late 1971 the center had moved to Melrose Lane.
Briefly, in 1980 the former nursing home was used as a haunted house attraction but that venture quickly died. Since then the property has become a haven for trespassers. Millard, owner of the property since 2004, said they have had to hire a security company to patrol the building, as well as local police to make more frequent stops. “We’ve had people ticketed for trespassing to try and run them off,” Bowie said. “We try to keep it boarded up, but people are very rude and break in anyway. We have tried to board it up over a dozen times.
THIS LOCATION IS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. THE OWNER WILL CALL THE COPS AND THOSE TRESPASSING WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT.
Gallery Below
https://www.newspapers.com/image/449690004/?terms=Vincent%20home&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/449693907/?terms=vincent%20home&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/594497679/?terms=Vincent%20home&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/449676289/?terms=Vincent%20home&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/700142063/?terms=Vincent%20home&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/453388612
https://www.connorhealy.com/obituary/2088778
https://www.newspapers.com/image/658993889/?terms=Vincent%20home&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/453913877/?terms=%22The%20Artery%22%20alcohol&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/452396865/?terms=3501%20NE%2023rd&match=1
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This building is pretty much gone due to fire damage. All that remains is the brick structure, and even that is pretty bad.
How do you get permission to visit it at night for an investigation?
I am curious myself
Had a weird experience here a few years ago, my third wife and I were exploring here and my hand was on the hand rail and it broke. I think there was a demon at work. I mean my phone had no service either. Never going back there again!
do not come here. the cops will be notified instantly and there is a sign in front that says you will be prosecuted to the maximum.
kinda. it’s there but bare bones and nothing really goes on there. If I remember correctly the house isn’t even there anymore.
How sure r u?
On picture #60 (it is a photo of wood) if you find the nail coming out of the board on the right side, and look in the U that the broken wood makes, you will see a mans face! It looks like he has a mustache, is balding on the top but has hair on the side. SOO CREEPY
[…] The place has been the scene of many a paranormal investigation in recent years and even made an appearance in 2014 on TV’s “Ghost Asylum.” I don’t know if it’s haunted or not, but I’ve walked around the perimeter of this place during the day and it is truly freaky and weird. I like abandoned places, but I do not like St. Vincent’s one little bit. So, if you’re like me and would rather not explore the spooky St. Vincent’s in person, you can check out Abandoned Oklahoma’s photos of the interior here. […]
Y’all should wear gloves if you’re going to pick stuff up …
Lol, its not haunted, i was there for over 2 hours and explored the entier building and saw nore herd anything. Ghosts arent real. Lol
I would live the opportunity to do a walk through this facility
Very nice. Really interesting post. Thank you for sharing this.
I wish rather then let buildings go to crap we could either house homeless people in them or at least take them down & make it just land again.
Pretty! This has been an incredibly wonderful post. Thanks for providing this info.
Smart
They tried to demolish it but after several unexplainable interferences they gave up and left the brick part. It took months just to tear down the wooden addition to the building. I drove by everyday for most of my life and it always gave off feeling that bad things happened there. When I saw the bulldozers a year or two ago, I knew they wouldn't succeed in destroying it. I told my husband watch something will happen…delay after delay I honestly think the workers said screw you we are outta here
His name was Father Richard Dolan…..not Frank….he was also an artist and signed his paintings "Dick Dolan"
Which pictures? I didnt see anything.
I grew up right around the corner. Homeless people sometimes stayed there. During holidays we would take a plate to whoever was there. Heard it was haunted but never gave much thought to it.
Wow this is just a few blocks away from where my parents live.
It doesn't seem like there are attempts to keep people out so that means it's probably full of garbage, graffiti and condoms but it still looks pretty awesome. I didn't know OKC even had something like this.
[…] St. Vincent’s Home at AbandonedOK.com […]
It says it was abandoned in the 80s Hun 🙂
I like the lighting in the first few pics.
Odd one though with that Class A uniform cover lodged behind a rusty pipe… And it's shaved too- no civilian in their right mind would waste time shaving a beret if they were just going to trash it. Makes me wonder if it drifted over on it's own from Fort Sill, or did a few Privates have a wild graduation party out in the ruins and leave it behind…
Lol- being a military servicemember myself, I take too much notice in these kinds of things.
I freaking drive by this building every day and I've been wondering what it was like inside.
I do metal detecting and I have recently scanned the ground and found a Winchester shotgun shell that dates from 1905-1938. I found it along one sidewalk east of the building. Makes me wonder what was there before the home.
[…] If you’re wanting to check out a haunted abandoned spot, and Edmond is too far of a drive, then head into Oklahoma City and visit what’s left of St. Vincent’s Home. […]
I dont see it. its the pic of the kitchen right
Having lived in the Oklahoma City area all my life (since 1942), I found the St. Vincent’s Home article very interesting. Wondering as to where St. Vincent’s was located, I was disappointed that no location was given. A search on the web also produced nothing as to whereabouts. Never having heard of St. Vincent’s, I can’t help wondering where it was. The only clue is in the picture that looks out of a wall, through studs, at an street intersection. Realizing that these pictures are fairly recent, I note that the intersection looks to not be in town. I’m left perplexed about this piece of OKC history. Please advise.
The wood building is now burned down but the brick building still remains.
I work next door – I think the 2 story home that was attached on the east side was moved, not burned. A family lived there for a while in the late 90s; I think that is their daughter's doll that ended up upstairs in the hospital. Dad was a roofer, and put a new roof on the shell of a house.
was very interesting to learn this history of this place, I drive by it daily & have wondered about it's history for years, Thank You for sharing it
I just tried to explore St. Vincents last week and they have boarded up the whole building and the right side of it is gone. 🙁 It was so disappointing!
Guys, be careful. This is a swat training facility adn the guy that lives behind WILL call the cops!
This only a few blocks from my mom's house. It has always felt strange just driving past it.
Couple years ago they were trying to restore this place and turn it into an haunted house. But there were alot of squatter living there then and now.
Awesome shots. All of the times I have been in (about 3 or 4) the basement was still completely flooded. And then the last time I went was the night the ghost hunters held a thing there and I was so mad because they had "cleaned everything up".
Which room was that big red melted candle in? I don't remember ever seeing it.
It should be on the second floor. It's either down the hall or immediately to the right/left of the stair case in the largest empty room. There's an old vanity in the corner to the right of the doorway. The candles are on there, I got some pretty nice pics of them.
Awesome shots. All of the times I have been in (about 3 or 4) the basement was still completely flooded. And then the last time I went was the night the ghost hunters held a thing there and I was so mad because they had "cleaned everything up".
Which room was that big red melted candle in? I don't rember ever seeing it.