MiaMayhemm

Bio

I am not much more than a college student in the Pacific Northwest whose goal is to get back to Rome, Italy. Having traveled the world thanks to Boeing sending my family overseas I was able to experience so much different culture. I returned with the biggest urge to share my favorite places, traditions, and memories with anyone who will listen. Being a five-year-old taking planes by my lonesome, traveling has become engraved as a part of who I am. I couldn't imagine living in the mindset of anyone who lacks any yearning to see what's past their front yard.

I intend to learn editing techniques on this journey through Wikipedia not only to improve my own eye in reading, but to also be able to correct errors when I see them. I believe it's important to be able to read properly with little to no error or bias in order to process whatever information is being taken in correctly. I can only hope that if I am ever to share the wonders of the world through my eyes, I stay true to the original beauty of it all. The goal would be to give the reader a peek, a taste if you will, to develop a hunger to explore and discover even more. Words alone hold the power to inspire one to uproot and take a gander at their world, provided they're structured well enough to entice the curiosity.

Article Critique

Ever since I was young I have been afflicted with wanderlust, my crave for adventure has lead me to the most beautiful and intriguing places around the world, although I do lean more towards dark tourism. Visiting abandoned locations is a lovely way to get to know the surrounding cities of where I live, Sedro-Woolley being one of those cities and the home of what used to be the Northern State Hospital - a now protected state park, job corps campus, and rehabilitation center in Washington as well. I visited the Northern State Hospital page on Wikipedia and found three aspects of it worth commenting on: the complete lack of all history, citations, and information on the current re-purposes of the buildings/land.

History

Aside from the cemetery and a link to a local journal, there is virtually nothing in this article that explains what this place, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, used to be. Yes, one of only two references will lead you to a page that does explain how there were over 2,000 people residing in a self-sustaining hospital for the mentally ill with a highly functional farm. But it is hard to say how concrete the facts truly are since a lot of what’s on there is provided by local residents descending from people affiliated with the hospital. Still, that page is loaded with links to their resources and citations which is more than can be said for its Wiki page.  

Citations

There is a “References” tab provided, under it are only two links, one of which is simply a vague picture of a plaque. No actual citations, definitely none that provide concrete evidence that what is mentioned in this article is correct. This article is considered a Stub in Wikipedia, there isn’t much information but enough that should be cited and there is so much information missing. Having done a bit of research myself before visiting this place I am certain there are some reliable sources out there that could be used to provide all the information about the dairy farm trails open to the public, and the still active buildings which are not open to the public.

Re-purposes

One of the downsides of being an explorer of the abandoned is encountering the dreaded “No Trespassing” sign with most buildings being privately or city owned. In the case of Northern State, it is owned by the state but split between a recreation area, job corps, and drug rehabilitation. All information you would never know about by looking at this stub page alone. Nothing against keeping an article short and sweet, but it should at least be mentioned in full and cited if it’s going to be mentioned at all what the current state of the property is.

Summary

Even Wikipedia itself is asking for an improvement on this article. There just isn’t enough information about this fascinating hospital that almost became a sort of inland island of its own. I would change everything about it, especially adding onto the information that is already there, the architecture firm and cemetery deserve so more. I would personally love to change the plaque picture or at least add another picture showing the lot (for lack of a better word) that is the resting ground for over 1,000 people for reference at how small it is. Adding the article by the Washington Trails Association alone would be a crucial thing for me add as well, for I love sparking curiosity in others and encouraging them to go on a ghost town adventure of their own.