In the 1880's,
two medical centers were built near Smithtown on Long Island,
New York, to accept mentally ill in-patients primarily
from New York City; Kings Park and Pilgrim Psychiatric
Centers, initially referred to as "lunatic asylums," became
the largest such facilities in the world. Once described
as "veritable cities for the insane," these hospitals
were eventually phased out in favor of other treatment
modalities (a euphemism for what many view as abject neglect),
and with the exception of limited patient services, closed
in the mid 1990's. The photographs featured in this series
were made at the abandoned Kings Park and Pilgrim mental
hospitals in early April of 2004. |
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Pilgrim I |
Pilgrim II |
Pilgrim III |
Kings Park
Building 40 |
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Kings Park
Building 93-I |
Kings Park
Building 93-II |
Kings Park
Building 93-III |
Kings Park
Building 93-IV |
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Kings Park
Building 93-V |
Kings Park
Building 93-VI |
Kings Park
Building 93-VII |
Kings Park
Building 123-I |
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Kings Park
Building 123-II |
Kings Park
Building 136 |
Kings Park
Building 139 |
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© 2023
Estate Katherine Westerhout Mann (Contact). All rights reserved. |
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