Haunted Island | Kings Park Psychiatric Center
Within the rich history of the locally nicknamed, "Psych Center," there lingers countless rumors and speculation of it being "haunted" since it's doors closed in 1996. Of course this had to be the first stop in our new series, Haunted Island.
Join us in our travels as we investigate Long Island haunted locations and claims of the supernatural, paranormal, ghosts, spirits and everything in between. This is where we were born, this is where we were raised and this is where we live...this is Haunted Island.
History of Kings Park Psychiatric Center:
The Kings Parks Psychiatric Center was established in 1885. The hospital was revolutionary at the time in the sense that it was a departure from the asylums of folklore, which were overcrowded places where gross human rights abuses often occurred.
Eventually, Kings Park began to suffer from the very thing that it attempted to relieve overcrowding. New York State responded to the problem in 1895, when control of the asylum passed into state hands. The state eventually built the hospital into a self-sufficient community that not only grew its own food, but also generated its own heat and electricity, had its own Long Island Rail Road spur and housed its staff on-site.
As patient populations grew throughout the early part of the 20th century, the hospital continued to expand. By the late 1930s, the state began to build upward instead of outward. During this period, the famous 13-story Building 93 was constructed. The building, often dubbed "the most famous asylum building on Long Island," was completed in 1939.
In 1954, the patient census at Kings Park topped 9,303, but would begin a steady decline afterward. By the time Kings Park reached its peak patient population, the old "rest and relaxation" philosophy surrounding farming had been succeeded by more invasive techniques of pre-frontal lobotomies and electro-shock therapy. However, those methods were soon abandoned after 1955, following the introduction of Thorazine, the first widely used drug in the treatment of mental illness.
By the early 1990s, many of the buildings were shut down or reduced in usage. This included the massive Building 93. In response to the declining patient population, the New York State Office of Mental Health developed plans to close Kings Park. The plans called for Kings Park to close, and the remaining patients from the facilities to be transferred to the still-operational Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, or be discharged. In the fall of 1996, the plans were implemented. The few remaining patients from Kings Park were transferred to Pilgrim, ending Kings Park's 111-year run.
Hosted By David Hofmann. Written and Directed By Anthony Trupia.
Thanks again to our special guests, John Greene & Dave VanderWerf!
Thanks to the great people we met on location and that gave us interviews, Ken, Amanda, Olivia & Emily!
If you'd like to see Ken's work, check out his website http://kbrportraits.zenfolio.com/
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