Hudson River State Hospital
Encyclopedia
The Hudson River State Hospital, is a former New York
state psychiatric hospital
whose main building has been designated a National Historic Landmark
due to its exemplary High Victorian Gothic
architecture, the first use of that style for an American institution
al building., It is located on US 9 just north of Poughkeepsie
, where it dominates the view to the east of the road. The Hudson River Psychiatric Center
, nearby, is a successor facility.
Frederick Clarke Withers
designed the hospital's buildings in 1867. Calvert Vaux
and Frederick Law Olmsted
designed the grounds. It was intended to be completed quickly, but went far over its original schedule and budget and remained under construction for almost a quarter century after it first opened. A century later it was slowly closed down as psychiatric treatment had changed enough that large hospitals were no longer needed, and the facility moved into smaller quarters nearby. The building was closed down in 2003 and since then has fallen into a state of disrepair. It was seriously damaged in a 2007 fire.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65473960@N05/
in 1843, the first state-run institution for the mentally ill
. By the Civil War
it was reaching its capacity, so in 1866 then Governor Reuben Fenton
appointed a five-member state commission to look for a site for a second hospital in the Hudson Valley
between New York
and Albany
, to serve New York City and the counties of Eastern New York. In January of the following year the members reported to the governor that they had temporarily secured a 296 acres (119.8 ha) tract of land overlooking the Hudson River
north of Poughkeepsie, formerly part of the estates
of James Roosevelt
and William A. Davis. It would cost nothing as the citizens of Dutchess County
would be offering it to the state as a gift. Two months later, the state accepted.
A nine-member Board of Managers was created and appointed to initiate and oversee construction of the actual building. They chose architect Frederick Clarke Withers
to design a building according to the Kirkbride Plan
, then a popular theory for the design of mental institutions. Withers planned a building 1,500 feet (457 m) in length and over 500,000 square feet (45,000 m²) in area, most of it two wings that would house patients. It was the first institutional building in the U.S. designed in the High Victorian Gothic style
. Calvert Vaux
and Frederick Law Olmstead, designers of New York's Central Park
, laid out the surrounding landscape
. Like Withers, they had been mentored by the influential Andrew Jackson Downing
in nearby Newburgh
.
The centerpiece of his design was the administration building, which branched off into two wings, composed of six parallel pavilions that flanked the central structure. The two wings, designed to hold 300 patients of either sex, were divided by a chapel
placed between them in the yard behind the administration building so that patients could not see into the rooms of the opposite sex. The building and landscape plan were meant to aid in patients' recovery, by giving them adequate space and privacy and imbuing their healing with a sense of grandeur.
Construction began in 1868, with the cost estimated at $800,000. Cost-saving measures included the construction of a new dock on the Hudson so that building materials could be shipped more directly to the site, quarry
ing and cutting the foundation stones on site, mixing concrete
from local materials and hiring local craftsmen instead of a general contractor
. The board also deviated from the plan it had sent the state, in particular by building a shorter female wing when it came to believe that fewer patients of that sex would be admitted. As a result it is one of the few Kirkbride hospitals to have been built with asymmetrical wings.
. The main building was completed and opened, with 40 patients admitted, in October 1871. As work continued on other structures planned for the complex, so did the cost overrun
s. In 1873, the year county residents had been promised the hospital would be finished, the New York Times
ran an editorial
harshly criticizing the board for not only having gone way over budget but for lavish extravagance and waste:
Some efforts were made to stop the project, but the legislature continued to appropriate funds despite further revelations like these. Construction continued until 1895, when further money could not be found. Despite this expenditure of time and money, the hospital's original plan was still not complete, and never would be.
Buildings continued to be opened and reopened in the 20th century, and as late as 1952 the institution was treating as many as 6,000 patients.
A Refrigerating Plant was built 1948 and a Tubercular Hospital was built in 1951 to the designs of Samuel Juster
of DePace & Juster
.
Changes in the treatment of mental illness, such as psychotherapy
and psychotropic drugs, were making large-scale facilities relics and allowing more patients to lead more normal lives without being committed. By the late 1970s the hospital administration had decided to shut down the two main wings as few patients were residing in them and due to neglect some of the floors had collapsed. The state offices of Mental Health and Historic Preservation
clashed over a plan to demolish the wings, even after the National Historic Landmark
designation in 1989.
In the 1990s, more and more of the hospital site would be abandoned as its services were needed less and less. It was consolidated with another Dutchess County mental hospital, Hudson Valley Psychiatric Center, in 1994 and closed in 2001. The center moved operations into a much smaller building nearby.
The state had decided to sell the property for redevelopment, and in 2005 the Empire State Development Corporation
sold 156 acres (63.1 ha) including the Main Building to Hudson Heritage LLC, a subsidiary of the Chazen Companies, for $2.75 million. Hudson Heritage and Chazen plan to thoroughly renovate the Main Building into a combination hotel/apartment complex as the centerpiece of a residential/commercial campus, Hudson Heritage Park.
These plans hit two setbacks later in the 2000s. In 2005, the Town of Poughkeepsie
imposed a moratorium
on new construction while it adjusted its zoning
to deal with its growth. Hudson Heritage has been seeking to have a "historic revitalization district" created for the property that would help spur its growth. Then, on May 31, 2007, lightning
struck the south wing, causing one of the most serious fires in Dutchess County's history. It is unclear whether that portion of the building can be effectively restored after such severe damage.
In the meantime the property has remained closed to the public. Entrances are fenced off and it is posted. Local firefighters have complained after dealing with two fires in April 2010 that appeared to be deliberately set
that the property is not adequately secured against trespassing, citing various websites where photos have been posted.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
whose main building has been designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
due to its exemplary High Victorian Gothic
High Victorian Gothic
High Victorian Gothic was an eclectic architectural style and movement during the mid-late 19th century. It is seen by architectural historians as either sub-style of the broader Gothic Revival style, or a separate style unto its own right....
architecture, the first use of that style for an American institution
Institution
An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community...
al building., It is located on US 9 just north of Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie (city), New York
Poughkeepsie is a city in the state of New York, United States, which serves as the county seat of Dutchess County. Poughkeepsie is located in the Hudson River Valley midway between New York City and Albany...
, where it dominates the view to the east of the road. The Hudson River Psychiatric Center
Hudson River Psychiatric Center
The Hudson River Psychiatric Center in Poughkeepsie, New York is a building and a psychiatric facility for adults operated by the New York State Office of Mental Health....
, nearby, is a successor facility.
Frederick Clarke Withers
Frederick Clarke Withers
Frederick Clarke Withers was an successful English architect in America, especially renowned for his Gothic Revival church designs.-Biography:...
designed the hospital's buildings in 1867. Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
and Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
designed the grounds. It was intended to be completed quickly, but went far over its original schedule and budget and remained under construction for almost a quarter century after it first opened. A century later it was slowly closed down as psychiatric treatment had changed enough that large hospitals were no longer needed, and the facility moved into smaller quarters nearby. The building was closed down in 2003 and since then has fallen into a state of disrepair. It was seriously damaged in a 2007 fire.
History
The entire facility was built over the last three decades of the 19th century, at great cost. Once complete, it would be used as intended for much of the first half of the next century. As psychiatry moved away from inpatient treatments, it began to decline in use until its closure at century's end. Today, it is slowly deteriorating out of public view as it awaits reuse.http://www.flickr.com/photos/65473960@N05/
19th century
New York had opened what has since become Utica Psychiatric CenterUtica Psychiatric Center
The Utica Psychiatric Center, also known as Utica State Hospital, which opened in Utica in 1843, was New York's first state-run facility designed to care for the mentally ill and was one of the first such institutions in the United States, predating and perhaps influencing the Kirkbride Plan which...
in 1843, the first state-run institution for the mentally ill
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
. By the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
it was reaching its capacity, so in 1866 then Governor Reuben Fenton
Reuben Fenton
Reuben Eaton Fenton was an American merchant and politician from New York.-Life:He was the son of a farmer. He was elected a colonel of the New York State Militia in 1840. He became a lumber merchant, and entered politics as a Democrat...
appointed a five-member state commission to look for a site for a second hospital in the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
between New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, to serve New York City and the counties of Eastern New York. In January of the following year the members reported to the governor that they had temporarily secured a 296 acres (119.8 ha) tract of land overlooking the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
north of Poughkeepsie, formerly part of the estates
Estate (house)
An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...
of James Roosevelt
James Roosevelt
James Roosevelt was the oldest son of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He was a United States Congressman, an officer in the United States Marine Corps, an aide to his father, the official Secretary to the President, a Democratic Party activist, and a businessman.-Early life:Roosevelt was...
and William A. Davis. It would cost nothing as the citizens of Dutchess County
Dutchess County, New York
Dutchess County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. The 2010 census lists the population as 297,488...
would be offering it to the state as a gift. Two months later, the state accepted.
A nine-member Board of Managers was created and appointed to initiate and oversee construction of the actual building. They chose architect Frederick Clarke Withers
Frederick Clarke Withers
Frederick Clarke Withers was an successful English architect in America, especially renowned for his Gothic Revival church designs.-Biography:...
to design a building according to the Kirkbride Plan
Kirkbride Plan
The Kirkbride Plan refers to a system of mental asylum design advocated by Philadelphia psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride in the mid-19th century.-History:The establishment of state mental hospitals in the U.S...
, then a popular theory for the design of mental institutions. Withers planned a building 1,500 feet (457 m) in length and over 500,000 square feet (45,000 m²) in area, most of it two wings that would house patients. It was the first institutional building in the U.S. designed in the High Victorian Gothic style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
. Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
and Frederick Law Olmstead, designers of New York's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, laid out the surrounding landscape
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
. Like Withers, they had been mentored by the influential Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
in nearby Newburgh
Newburgh (city), New York
Newburgh is a city located in Orange County, New York, United States, north of New York City, and south of Albany, on the Hudson River. Newburgh is a principal city of the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown metropolitan area, which includes all of Dutchess and Orange counties. The Newburgh area was...
.
The centerpiece of his design was the administration building, which branched off into two wings, composed of six parallel pavilions that flanked the central structure. The two wings, designed to hold 300 patients of either sex, were divided by a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
placed between them in the yard behind the administration building so that patients could not see into the rooms of the opposite sex. The building and landscape plan were meant to aid in patients' recovery, by giving them adequate space and privacy and imbuing their healing with a sense of grandeur.
Construction began in 1868, with the cost estimated at $800,000. Cost-saving measures included the construction of a new dock on the Hudson so that building materials could be shipped more directly to the site, quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
ing and cutting the foundation stones on site, mixing concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
from local materials and hiring local craftsmen instead of a general contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
. The board also deviated from the plan it had sent the state, in particular by building a shorter female wing when it came to believe that fewer patients of that sex would be admitted. As a result it is one of the few Kirkbride hospitals to have been built with asymmetrical wings.
Spending controversies and delays
Despite the efforts to save money, the board was slightly over the $100,000 it had expected to spend that year, according to its first annual reportAnnual report
An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company's activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company's activities and financial performance...
. The main building was completed and opened, with 40 patients admitted, in October 1871. As work continued on other structures planned for the complex, so did the cost overrun
Cost overrun
A cost overrun, also known as a cost increase or budget overrun, is an unexpected cost incurred in excess of a budgeted amount due to an under-estimation of the actual cost during budgeting...
s. In 1873, the year county residents had been promised the hospital would be finished, the New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
ran an editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
harshly criticizing the board for not only having gone way over budget but for lavish extravagance and waste:
Some efforts were made to stop the project, but the legislature continued to appropriate funds despite further revelations like these. Construction continued until 1895, when further money could not be found. Despite this expenditure of time and money, the hospital's original plan was still not complete, and never would be.
20th century
A Refrigerating Plant was built 1948 and a Tubercular Hospital was built in 1951 to the designs of Samuel Juster
Samuel Juster
Samuel Juster, AIA, was a minor American architect who practiced in mid-20th-century New York and New Jersey.-Early life and education:...
of DePace & Juster
DePace & Juster
DePace & Juster was an architectural firm established in 1923 by architects Anthony DePace and Samuel Juster, who met while working at the firm of Alfred C. Bossom in the late 1910s...
.
Changes in the treatment of mental illness, such as psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
and psychotropic drugs, were making large-scale facilities relics and allowing more patients to lead more normal lives without being committed. By the late 1970s the hospital administration had decided to shut down the two main wings as few patients were residing in them and due to neglect some of the floors had collapsed. The state offices of Mental Health and Historic Preservation
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation operates :*168 state parks*35 state historic sites*76 developed beaches*53 water recreational facilities*27 golf courses*39 full service cottages*818 cabins...
clashed over a plan to demolish the wings, even after the National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
designation in 1989.
In the 1990s, more and more of the hospital site would be abandoned as its services were needed less and less. It was consolidated with another Dutchess County mental hospital, Hudson Valley Psychiatric Center, in 1994 and closed in 2001. The center moved operations into a much smaller building nearby.
The state had decided to sell the property for redevelopment, and in 2005 the Empire State Development Corporation
Empire State Development Corporation
The Urban Development Corporation, doing business as Empire State Development Corporation is a public authority of the state of New York in the United States that has financed and operated several ambitious state projects by issuing tax exempt bonds....
sold 156 acres (63.1 ha) including the Main Building to Hudson Heritage LLC, a subsidiary of the Chazen Companies, for $2.75 million. Hudson Heritage and Chazen plan to thoroughly renovate the Main Building into a combination hotel/apartment complex as the centerpiece of a residential/commercial campus, Hudson Heritage Park.
21st century
Poughkeepsie (town), New York
Poughkeepsie is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 42,777 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from the native term, "Uppu-qui-ipis-in," which means "reed-covered hut by the water."...
imposed a moratorium
Moratorium (law)
A moratorium is a delay or suspension of an activity or a law. In a legal context, it may refer to the temporary suspension of a law to allow a legal challenge to be carried out....
on new construction while it adjusted its zoning
Zoning
Zoning is a device of land use planning used by local governments in most developed countries. The word is derived from the practice of designating permitted uses of land based on mapped zones which separate one set of land uses from another...
to deal with its growth. Hudson Heritage has been seeking to have a "historic revitalization district" created for the property that would help spur its growth. Then, on May 31, 2007, lightning
Lightning
Lightning is an atmospheric electrostatic discharge accompanied by thunder, which typically occurs during thunderstorms, and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or dust storms...
struck the south wing, causing one of the most serious fires in Dutchess County's history. It is unclear whether that portion of the building can be effectively restored after such severe damage.
In the meantime the property has remained closed to the public. Entrances are fenced off and it is posted. Local firefighters have complained after dealing with two fires in April 2010 that appeared to be deliberately set
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
that the property is not adequately secured against trespassing, citing various websites where photos have been posted.
External links
- Historic 51, site devoted to history and preservation of Main Building.
- High Definition video from Kirkbrides HD
- Forbidden Places, history, original postcards and photos from 2004.
- Photos at abandonedbutnotforgotten.com