Indiana Medical History Museum

The 1896 pathology building of the former Central State Hospital — Indiana's main psychiatric institution from 1848 to 1994 — preserved exactly as it was when it closed. The autopsy room, the photography lab, the wet specimen collection, and the original teaching amphitheatre are still intact. Tour guides walk you through each room, explaining how 19th-century psychiatric pathology was actually practised.

The museum is one of the most unusual attractions in the city and one of the best small museums in the Midwest. Tours run on a fixed schedule (typically Thursday–Saturday afternoons); arrive a few minutes early.

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The pathology building closed in 1968 and was scheduled to be demolished with the rest of the Central State Hospital complex. A small group of doctors and historians preserved it with the original microscopes, specimen jars, and even the wall-mounted brain in formaldehyde still in place — making it one of the most untouched 19th-century medical facilities in America.

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