Difference between revisions of "Portal:Featured Article Of The Week"

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|Title= Eastern Washington State Hospital
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|Title= Central Islip State Hospital
|Image= East_Washington_SH_PC_1909.jpg
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|Body= The great distance in transporting patients to the Western Hospital for the Insane at Fort Steilacoom, which is situated in the extreme western part of the state, led to the erection of the Eastern State Hospital.
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|Body= The Central Islip Psychiatric Center started out as a Farm Colony for New York City in 1889. The patients were transferred from the crowded city asylums on Wards, Hart, and Blackwell Island.
  
The first buildings were erected in 1890 and consisted of a central administration building, with a wing on each side and a rear wing for the kitchen, engine room and laundry. The entire plant was made of brick, with a granite foundation, lathed and plastered inside. Each wing was three stories high and accommodated 150 patients. The buildings were of the old Kirkbride plan. The building commissioners were D. M. Drumheller, B. B. Glasscock and Stanley Hallett. The first Board of Trustees, consisting of D. F. Percival, Dr. Wilson Lockhart and Charles McDouall, were appointed in 1890. In 1892 W. J. Dwyer was appointed in place of Dr. Wilson Lockhart, whose term had expired. This local board continued in office until 1897, when it was abolished and the State Board of Audit and Control assumed power.
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Eventually the asylum was taken over by the state and was renamed the Manhattan State Hospital. The campus consisted of 1000 acres and was the largest asylum by land area. Over 100 buildings were built, 2 of which were quite unique. One being several ward groups connected by corridors that stretched approximately one mile long. The elegant architecture and length of the building led to its name as the "String of Pearls." The other complex with a unique layout was called the "Sunburst," which resembled a spoked wheel - the spokes were treatment wards connected to a central hub, with a curved, circular corridor connecting them all. A fire department with 10 employees was created in 1907, and a large medical building and a secure unit were constructed in the middle of the century.
  
In May, 1891, 20 patients were received from the Western Washington Hospital and in July, the same year, 102 more. These patients had been committed from counties east of the Cascade Mountains, the territory which thereafter was designated as the district especially belonging to this hospital. As the patient population quickly rose additional room became necessary. A second wing was erected for men in 1894. It was, like the two original wings, three stories high and accommodated 150 patients. While not fireproof, it was an improvement over the older wings, having all partitions made of brick and tile, with hard plaster finish. It had no rooms or dormitories in the front of the building, so the wards were exceedingly well lighted. The flooring was of maple and each ward had two fireplaces—one at each end. [[Eastern Washington State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
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Therapy consisted in working in the farms or one of the many shops. The center had two rail spurs to serve the main power plant (north colony) and the string of pearls (south colony) and even had its own steam engine. Visitors would also arrive by train and the hospital had its own passenger station. The hospital, later renamed to Central Islip State Hospital and finally known as Central Islip Psychiatric Center, began to become severely overcrowded through the 1950s. It reached its peak population of about 10,000 patients in 1955. Lobotomies, various types of shock treatments, and finally drug therapy replaced the long-gone treatments from the 19th century. The population dwindled in the 1970s and 1980s as de-institutionalization took hold, until it finally closed in 1996. The beautiful String of Pearls was demolished for the shopping mall that now stands in its place, the large 1953 power plant was imploded for condominiums in 2006, and the large secure treatment building called Corcoran together with the wooden 1907 firehouse were demolished in 2008. A few buildings have survived, as some of the campus was sold to the New York Institute of Technology and the structures have found a new use by the college.   [[Central Islip State Hospital|Click here for more...]]
 
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Revision as of 07:20, 11 February 2018

Featured Article Of The Week

Central Islip State Hospital


CiJbldg.jpg

The Central Islip Psychiatric Center started out as a Farm Colony for New York City in 1889. The patients were transferred from the crowded city asylums on Wards, Hart, and Blackwell Island.

Eventually the asylum was taken over by the state and was renamed the Manhattan State Hospital. The campus consisted of 1000 acres and was the largest asylum by land area. Over 100 buildings were built, 2 of which were quite unique. One being several ward groups connected by corridors that stretched approximately one mile long. The elegant architecture and length of the building led to its name as the "String of Pearls." The other complex with a unique layout was called the "Sunburst," which resembled a spoked wheel - the spokes were treatment wards connected to a central hub, with a curved, circular corridor connecting them all. A fire department with 10 employees was created in 1907, and a large medical building and a secure unit were constructed in the middle of the century.

Therapy consisted in working in the farms or one of the many shops. The center had two rail spurs to serve the main power plant (north colony) and the string of pearls (south colony) and even had its own steam engine. Visitors would also arrive by train and the hospital had its own passenger station. The hospital, later renamed to Central Islip State Hospital and finally known as Central Islip Psychiatric Center, began to become severely overcrowded through the 1950s. It reached its peak population of about 10,000 patients in 1955. Lobotomies, various types of shock treatments, and finally drug therapy replaced the long-gone treatments from the 19th century. The population dwindled in the 1970s and 1980s as de-institutionalization took hold, until it finally closed in 1996. The beautiful String of Pearls was demolished for the shopping mall that now stands in its place, the large 1953 power plant was imploded for condominiums in 2006, and the large secure treatment building called Corcoran together with the wooden 1907 firehouse were demolished in 2008. A few buildings have survived, as some of the campus was sold to the New York Institute of Technology and the structures have found a new use by the college. Click here for more...