HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
Opened 1892 as the Southwestern Insane Asylum; built for 250 patients, it routinely warehoused over 2,000 amid documented overcrowding, violence, and administrative corruption.
6711 S New Braunfels Ave, San Antonio, TX 78223
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Active state psychiatric facility; grounds drive-by only. No public admission.
Access
Limited Access
Active hospital campus; exterior/perimeter only
Equipment
No Photos
Est. 1892 · Third Texas state asylum (1892) · Southwestern Insane Asylum original name · Major overcrowding and reform controversy
The Southwestern Insane Asylum opened April 6, 1892, on a tract of land southeast of downtown San Antonio, becoming the third institution of its kind in Texas. The state legislature had authorized the facility in 1889 to relieve overcrowding at the Austin and Terrell state hospitals, but appropriations were insufficient from the start.
Designed for 250 patients, the asylum's population climbed rapidly through the 1890s and early 1900s. Historical accounts and newspaper coverage from the period describe dormitory conditions where patients slept in hallways and on floors, inadequate staffing ratios, and repeated complaints about food and sanitation. By the first decades of the twentieth century, the institution regularly reported populations exceeding two thousand.
State investigation reports from the Progressive Era flagged corruption in the administration — including accusations that attendants physically abused patients and that food and supply contracts were manipulated for personal profit. The facility was renamed the San Antonio State Hospital in 1925 as part of a broader effort to reform the language and public image of state psychiatric institutions.
The hospital transitioned through decades of reform efforts, deinstitutionalization policies in the 1970s and 1980s, and a gradual reduction in census. It remains an active state psychiatric facility operated by Texas Health and Human Services and is not open to the public. The original 1892 administration building and water tower are still present on the grounds.
Sources
Ghost City Tours and regional paranormal researchers have documented firsthand accounts from people who live near and drive past the S New Braunfels Ave campus. The most-repeated claims describe faces or figures seen in the darkened windows of the original 1892 administration building — most often reported at the second-floor level — by people passing at night.
Several accounts describe unexplained voices carrying across the perimeter fence: fragments of speech or crying with no obvious source. Footsteps in gravel and on pavement inside the exterior fence line, heard during hours when the campus should have had minimal activity, appear in multiple independent reports collected by area paranormal researchers.
KSAT's 2023 south-side haunted-places coverage includes the hospital in a list of locations where staff and area residents have reported anomalous experiences without the theatrical framing typical of commercial ghost tours. The hospital's documented history of overcrowding and abuse provides the contextual spine that local lore attributes to the ongoing activity.
The hospital campus is visible from S New Braunfels Ave. The original 1892 Kirkbride-influenced administration building and water tower remain on site. This is an active state psychiatric facility; remain on public property.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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