The Long Island Farm Colonies:
Abandoned Pilgrim State Hospital

Years ago I started compiling pictures from my very first and all-time favorite abandoned place to photograph, Pilgrim State Hospital–now the Pilgrim Psychiatric Center. Growing up on Long Island, the sprawling decay of the state-owned farm colony was always a fascinating place. With a dark and sorted past, the local freaks and geeks I hung out with had many tales of its grounds. And I would visit long before the days of photographing every move you made. Though I do have this real life picture from 1999 of my ex-boyfriend on Pilgrim State’s grounds.

Since those times I have always returned back to Pilgrim State. And though it has been decades since its “hey day,” the collective shine of all its unrest stirs me. Psychology has always been my favorite science. (I stole collections of books about mental illness from my high school library, fascinated–a delinquent intellect was I.) Abandoned asylums contain the lingering psychic energy of pain, misunderstanding, mistreatment, and wrongful confinement on a extreme scale. It is this eerie energy at Pilgrim State that is unmatched and it keeps me returning. Report 1 in a series of posts, I plan to visit all of Long Island’s abandoned Farm Colonies–to explore the decay and the history.

1: Pilgrim State Hospital on Crooked Hill Road, Brentwood, Long Island

The New York City area has many landmarks to its horrendous treatment of the destitute and those deemed mentally ill, both historically and not so long ago. The Bronx‘s Hart Island has recently been in the news as the Department of Parks and Recreation tries to gain control of the “Potter’s Field” from the Department of Corrections. More than 1 million poor souls have been buried in mass graves there since 1869–the poor, those without any family, many unidentified, and some by mistake. Neglect of the land, which also contains a decay old asylum for women, has remains poking out from the island’s edge. In Queens the tremendous partially defunct Creedmoor Psychiatric Center had a secure unit infamous for abuse and neglect of patients determined to be criminally insane. In the 1980’s Building 74’s violence was so brutal that a patient was beat to death by orderlies while in a straitjacket. (source) Staten Island‘s Willowbrook State School, decommissioned but whose buildings are now part of CUNY’s College of Staten Island, remains a heinous reminder of just how bad things could become. The shudder-inducing conditions and medical experiments conducted at the “school” for mentally disabled children were exposed in the 1970’s prompting public outcry.

Though atrocious, Pilgrim State’s history, in my view, trumps all. Between the 1940’s and 1950’s, thousands of patients were lobotomized—first, heads cut open, holes drilled through the skull, insertion of slicing instrument through said hole, and the slicing of frontal lobe’s connection to the thalamus to offer “patients relief from intense emotions and reset their personalities.” (source) Then later–more easily–the procedure involved an icepick and hammer into the corner of one’s eye. (source) About 1 in 25 of all lobotomies performed in the United States was performed at Pilgrim State. But how did this come to be?

How could the space I stand upon hold so much darkness?

It started in New York City. Blackwell’s Island, now Roosevelt Island, was home to the first municipal mental hospital in the United States (source), The New York City Lunatic Asylum. This asylum’s deplorable conditions helped pave the way for Pilgrim State’s development as the state seized control of many county-run asylums and poorhouses. (The decay of Blackwell Island’s hospital is pictured in my post here.) Overcrowding in the City prompted the creation of the largest psychiatric hospital in the world with a capacity of over 13,000 patients. Pilgrim State Hospital. The tremendous undertaking to develop what amounted to be a self-sufficient city with its own power plant, police force, sewage system, water supply, farm land, piggery, train station, etc, was meant to solve overcrowding and improve the terrible conditions in county-run lunatic asylums in the bustling New York City boroughs. With more space and the free labor of patients, the farm colonies of Long Island–Kings Park, Central Islip, Edgewood and Pilgrim State–received thousands of patients from New York City. And tucked away in the “country” of Long Island, another problem would persist and haunt till this day: Humanity.

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Though many of Pilgrim State’s buildings have been razed, there is still much to see. But beware! The state-owned facility is still active, still admitting patients. That means you cannot photograph the facilities still occupied; it’s illegal. And there are a few roaming patrols–not rent-a-cops but real ones. I was approached by a police officer as I wandered about, photographing some of the vacant buildings adjacent to the active ones. I deleted the pictures I had taken in front of him, then we talked about the area, its current state and a bit of his history. He understood the lure, but spoke frankly about some of the folks court-mandated to treatment at the addiction services within the smaller repurposed buildings… as well as the MS-13 affiliated activity. But he steered me to the places not state-owned, inferring that I may photograph them freely. His reassurance and his presence in the distance as I moved onward to these places emboldened me. It was nice to have a guardian in blue. Though my guardian officer seemed to enjoy my being part of a sleepy afternoon on the beat at Pilgrim, I cannot assume all interactions with The Law would be similar for you. You might not be half as charming and disarming as me. Kidding. Kind of.

This report is on the the starred locations below, though some are just preliminary visits. I plan to return soon.

The Active Hospital

I had a camera around my neck and a camera in my hand. So this shot was not deleted like the ones on my DLSR had been. It is of the rooftop of the active hospital on the grounds. (Sorry, police man. I only realized afterwards that you kind of eyeballed this second camera during our conversation.) I really loved the roof line, but that is all I got.

I am unsure when this building became part of the property as it does not appear on this old map, but…

…here it is on the left on this old aerial shot below. (Note the reverse orientation.)

Current aerial, this hospital on the left end of the grounds.

Carpentry, Plumbing, Machine Shops, Bakery

Across G Road is a set of parallel structures adjoined by the colony’s Power Plant. This strip of abandoned and easily photographed buildings served many purposes for the small city of Pilgrim. The active East Road is bustling considering the look of these buildings. Many use it to cut through to an industrial complex. While I wandered I also saw two guys filming their fancy cars on the grounds and a group of cosplay kids doing some sort of photoshoot. Good times.

Below the Carpentry, Plumbing, Machine Shops, and Bakery…

The Power Plant

Most exciting, the old power plant that generated heat, electricity and pumping water for the entire Pilgrim State facilities.

Apparently the plant is easy to enter. As I snapped photos of the exterior, I saw movement in the opening in this garage. A snapping camera from the inside! Startled, I looked at the opening stunned until a pretty young girl with purple hair gave me a smile from inside, knowing she had scared the heck out of me.

Gosh, I love my fish eye lens.

The Plant’s towering facade

Equipment juts from the dark

Dining Room for Utilities Employees and Laundry

Unknown Building

The small structure in the grass between the U-formation of utility building helped me get my favorite shots.

The money shot.

Cemetery

The following shots were from several years ago, a quick stop at Pilgrim State after exploring the Nassau County Sanitorium.

This is the Hospital’s Potter’s Field for unclaimed patients. To access you have to be next to the Water Tower and walk from there, leaving your vehicle, or enter by the Long Island Expressway park and ride as pictured on top left corner of the Google map above.

Once you are there, notice how it looks like an open field. Don’t be fooled and tread lightly. You’re not able to see any grave markers as the numbered plaques are buried below overgrowth. Want more creepiness? This land is part of a recently approved rezoning for a development called Heartland Town Square.

The development of Heartland Town Square where the Long Island Expressway meets the Sagtikos Parkway will result in Long Island’s first “smart growth” community. The project will include 9,000 housing units, a million square foot “life-style” center, 3 million square feet of Class A office space, a state of the art hotel and convention center, indoor and outdoor civic space and an aquarium. Fusing these venues in a planned development will create a vibrant and diverse atmosphere that will appeal to people of all ages.

http://www.heartlandbusinesscenter.com/twnsq.htm

Ok, but what about all the bodies?

Water Tower

Like the cemetery, the Water Tower is not owned by the state. Though roads that cut through the razed Continued Treatment Buildings for females on the state property are blocked for vehicles, the road on the far end closest to the active hospital is open for driving, though overgrowth make it a scary drive. But as far as I understand, you won’t get harassed by security in this area… though I saw a few wandering souls who were far scarier.

Inside the abandoned water tower you can see that someone was living in there. Thankfully he or she was not home at the time of our visit.

And why not?! Look at those ceilings!

Development Plans

So look what they want to do to this area. This is a rendering of Heartland Town Square. So get yourself to Pilgrim before this ridiculousness begins!

I’ll have to get back soon to finish this report.