Our Newest adventure led us to an abandoned Psychiatric center in Long Island, New York. It wasn't difficult to get there but to enter the buildings took some time to figure out. The buildings are fenced and guarded with patrol cars that circle the area.
We Were Almost Caught!!
BUT.. Luckily we weren't.
But we were able to slip by and enter ONE of the buildings in the area. The rest were boarded or gated with no easy access. BUT...@Spenceryan was able to find a window with its bars pulled open.
With our intense curiosity and hunger for exploration....
Brief Kings Park Psychiatric Center History
The Kings Park Lunatic Asylum was established in 1885 and was set forth to help relieve New York City's growing mentally ill population.
The entire hospital became a self-sufficient community; the patients and staff performed a wide variety of tasks including farming, construction, clothes-making, and food preparation. Kings Park Hospital expanded to over 150 buildings, which included a power plant and a railroad spur to transport passengers, coal, and construction materials from the Long Island Rail Road.
The campus included an area for Tuberculosis patients, as well as a large section devoted to caring for war veterans. At the turn of the century, the hospital had already grown to 2,697 patients and 454 staff workers. The hospital reached its peak population at 9,303 patients in 1954, and became quite overcrowded like so many other state run mental health centers at the time.
The cost to run such an enormous facility became too large of a burden for the state that the hospital began closing buildings in a slow but steady process in 1970. The entire facility closed in 1996 except for two buildings which still house patients to this day.
