Kirkbride Buildings - Historic Insane Asylum Architecture

Kirkbride connoisseur Ian Ference has put another notch in his found-a-kirkbride-building-no-one-knew-about belt. What’s especially exciting is that, just like the last lost Kirkbride he discovered, this Kirkbride was located in New York City — in Brooklyn to be exact. Brooklyn State Hospital was created to serve the Kings County region of New York. I’m not 100% sure of this, but other names for the hospital include Flatbush Insane Asylum, Kings County Lunatic Asylum and Long Island State Hospital. It’s now known as Kingsboro Psychiatric Center. It was originally a county hospital, but the state took it over in 1895. (more…)

Forum member Jenca mentioned there’s going to be an historic walking tour of the Warren State Hospital grounds this Spring. It’ll take place on Wednesday, April 14th from 1PM to 3PM. The tour is offered by the Warren Forest Higher Education Council and is open to the public. The tour will not enter any hospital buildings. Participating will cost $10 per person. You will have to contact Warren Forest Higher Education to register which can be done by phone or by mail. Here are some details…

Historical Walking Tour of Warren State Hospital
CRN: 4513, 2-hours, April 14, Wednesday from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Cost: $10
Warren State Hospital has been an integral part of the community for decades, yet very few of us know the history and significance of this institution. Enjoy a guided tour of the grounds along with rare photos depicting its history and treatment options for patients. Lecture will meet at Hi-Ed located on the Warren State Hospital Grounds. Call 1-814-723-3222 for more information.

Even though I’ve read in several sources that Ward P. Delano designed the Worcester State Hospital Kirkbride, today I learned that is untrue. The actual architect was George Dutton Rand. You can read all about him in the third letter to the editor listed on this page at the Preservation Nation web site.

I just wanted to point that out since I’ve been spreading the Delano lie on this site for years. Even more embarrassingly, I also did so in a comment on the original Preservation Nation article which inspired that letter to the editor — although in my defense, the original article listed Thomas Kirkbride as the architect and I was trying to dispel the common misconception that Dr Kirkbride personally designed all these buildings himself.

Just before 2009 ended, Alabama’s board of mental health approved the sale of the Bryce Hospital campus to the University of Alabama. The university will pay $60 million for the property and Bryce Hospital will move to a new location within Tuscaloosa. According to the Associated Press, UA has “indicated it will maintain the nearly 150-year-old main building, which opened in 1861. The white structure is expected to be used by the university for office space and maintained as a museum.” Read more here: Sale of Bryce Hospital to the University of Alabama Approved.

A few days ago, squad546 on the Asylum Projects forum told me that Independence State Hospital is now represented in Google’s Street View. I soon after went looking for other Kirkbride buildings to see if there were any other new additions since I last checked. Below are the ones I found that you can see clearly. (more…)

A short while ago, asylum aficionado Ian Ference clued me in on a Kirkbride building I was unaware of. Surprisingly, the slightly modified Kirkbride plan building pictured above was located in Manhattan! Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of images of the building online. The best I’ve seen so far are located here: aerial photos (look near the curve of the bridge) — although those sadly don’t reveal the entire building.

Founded in 1863, the hospital was originally called the New York City Asylum for the Insane and stood on Ward’s Island as part of a larger hospital complex predominantly serving newly arrived immigrants. When the State Department of Mental Hygiene took over its administration in 1899, it became Manhattan State Hospital. When exactly the Kirkbride was built I don’t yet know. However, Mr Ference has confirmed that the building no longer stands.

Is November really over? I barely noticed it go by I’ve been so busy. But it’s my least favorite month and I’m jonesing for it to be 2010 anyway, so who cares? Oh yeah: the Richardson Center snowglobes are now available for purchase. You can currently see what they look like on the Avalon Scarves home page, and buy them online from their snowglobes page. I have to say, I like my virtual BSH snowglobe better, but I suppose I’m biased.

I haven’t been down to Taunton to see the old Kirkbride in a long time now. I wanted to pretend that the demolition going on there isn’t happening, and that the building is still standing untouched and quietly beautiful as ever. But of course I wasn’t going to be able to avoid reality forever thanks to the internet. Some photos of the demolition are available here: I Less-than-Heart Massachusetts. Although I suspect the writer’s claim to have taken the very last pictures of TSH may be a little premature, it does look like the Kirkbride is pretty close to being a memory, if it isn’t already.

For Halloween this year, “Ghost Adventures” will be at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum on October 30th for a SEVEN HOUR live broadcast. The show will be aired on The Travel Channel from 8PM to 3AM. I haven’t seen much of “Ghost Adventures”, but the few times I did I got a chuckle out of it. In my opinion, they go way over the top whereas a show like “Ghost Hunters” seems to try to maintain some degree of dignity. Regardless of that, the show will provide hours of footage from the former hospital and should be worth tuning in to for that alone. If you’re into the paranormal, you’ll love it even more. And if you also like spiky-haired guys with huge biceps, you’ll be in Heaven!

Points North, a show on Interlochen Public Radio in Michigan, recently produced a program about Traverse City State Hospital: listen here. The program is 50+ minutes and full of personal history told by hospital employees and patients of the hospital. In the beginning you even get to listen in as former employees tour the Kirkbride building and tell stories of their experiences—the mundane and unusual, the humorous and sad.

What’s particularly fascinating is the contrast between the patients’ feelings and the those of the employees. The former almost exclusively express a fondness for the hospital, while the patients interviewed express good and bad feelings about the hospital.

The end of the program is about Heidi Johnson and her connection to the hospital. It tells a sad side of her story that I personally hadn’t heard before and was surprised to learn.