Original Name: W.T. Edwards Tuberculosis Hospital
Closed: Early 1960's
Re-Opened: 1968
Current Name: Sunland Mental Hospital / Sunland at Tallahassee / Sunland Property
Closed/Abandoned: 1983
Floors: Five
Footage: Approx. 149,000 Square Feet
Property: 26.11 Acres
Owner: Florida Department of Environmental Services
Location: Corner of Blair Stone Rd. and Phillips Rd.
Sources: Florida State Archives/Tallahassee Democrat
Read this if you plan to go to Sunland!
Maps of Sunland
The Indoor Pic Collection starting from Floor 1.
The Sunland Building is Five Floors, including the "basement" which is really the first floor that is partially underground on the front end of the building. There are four stairwells, four elevators and two dumbwaiters. The First floor seems to have been mostly offices, storage and housing for the boilers and other equipment to regulate the building. The Kitchen and Cafeteria are on this floor, one right across the main hall from the other.
The Second floor boasts nothing overly special that makes it stand out. It shares similar design to the rest of the upper floors and all the floors of the main wing from floors 2-5 look mostly the same in how they are set up, with many bathrooms, showers, closets, storage, kitchenettes and offices on the front side of the building and larger rooms on the backend that seem to have been used for everything from activity/play rooms, library corners, cubicle offices and sleep areas. There are "sun rooms" on either end of the Building on the second, third and fourth floors.
The frontal wing of the building seems to mostly have been administration offices and such. The main reception area is on the second floor (which appears to be the first floor from the front) and the auditorium is on the fourth floor. The frontal wing is badly water damaged and can be difficult if not dangerous to travel through due to it's slipperyness, unless there has been little rain in previous months. People with mold allergies should probably avoid the frontal wing completely. The third floor of the frontal wing is covered in water on the floor and a ceiling beam has collapsed. This is probably the least safe area to go inside Sunland, though this appears to be where the Pharmacy was. The frontal wing is only four floors tall as opposed to main wing's five.
The roof is sound more or less, though there are some soft spots. It is reccommended that you avoid dark spots or sections with standing water on them. Sunland itself is still sound as far as the floor goes and I have noted no weaknesses in any of the floors so far. The roof is only accessible via one of the two stairwells that leads up there. The other stairwell's roof access door is broken and inoperable.
Many of the toilets, sinks and bathtubs are still in tact. In fact, one bathroom boats two rolls of toilet paper on the rolls. Another smaller room with a sink has both paper towels and soap in their respective dispensers.
I have not noted a single in-tact showerhead inside Sunland.
Many cabinets and kitchenette's have been raided and/or torn apart. Some of them still have lables on the drawers, cubbies or cabinets doors however.
Some filing cabinets on the wall in a first floor office are still mostly in tact (besides the broken glass of the doors) and lables for records remain on the shelving.
A set of green blinds in an office on the first floor hang, strangely untouched, and completely in tact.
The kitchen and auditorium are considered two of the scarier rooms in Sunland, especially at night. However, even in the day time, the Kitchen is nearly pitch black and there is constantly water dripping.
Some colorful wall murals that echo the prescense of the children of Sunland can still be seen on some walls, though most of them have been defaced or are peeling beyond recognition.
One of the few pictures one can find of Sunland when it was still in operation in the Florida Archives shows children enjoying some TV in a room with wild animal wallpaper. Some of that wallpaper can still be seen today.
Furniture such as desks, cabinets, few chairs and some rolling beds are still present scattered around the various floors, including a couch on the Second floor.
A rusty flagpole and brick sign stands in front of the building near the main entrance in some overgrown shrubs.
There is a backroad behind Sunland that winds through the forest to the new Blair Stone Road extension. The question is, where did this road lead before Blair Stone was extended through the woods?
There is no electrical power or water running to Sunland.
There is no traditional basement.