3,698 Comments Posted by Motts

Thank you Sonja!

Unfortunately this isn't always the case; many buildings listed under the National Register have been razed. The designation does not guarantee protection of the property, and many historic buildings listed on this website have been torn down for shopping malls, condos, etc.

Hi Kathy, no I did not keep any diaries found here. Official patient records would probably be accessed through the New York State Office of Mental Health depending on your particular circumstances: http://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/faq/#c

Hey cool - yeah I hadn't noticed the pulley system inside. That might explain why the central shaft in the historic photo appears to be at a different height.

Heh nah, they were still laid in the cooler horizontally, the rest is hidden behind the wall partition.

Although the campus was in the center of a city district, the asylum walls created a self-contained area for the goats to graze.

Yeah I couldn't read much, but most items were labeled with years between 1990-1999.

Lpn, no the little building was actually raised above ground, so you had go up 3-4 steps (a ramp was provided for the deceased). I'd imagine all the plumbing was fitted in a crawlspace-like basement above the ground.

Apologies for being absent for so long - many things (good and bad) have been happening at once and I needed to take some time off to take care of them. I hope to keep maintaining the website as much as I can.
-Tom

I'm not sure which area of the complex this shaft is in, but I'd guess at it being part of Old Main (1856) or an early 1900 addition, before elevators were used / common. Looks like they tore out a series of small rooms to create the shaft, and simply left the windows intact.

I've closed up ways in if possible by shutting windows and doors, sure. I've never boarded anything up or placed my own locks on things, though.

During these last months before demolition, access was quite easy... all the doors were open and many holes in the fence. Before that, you had to get in the fence and work along the building to find some hidden opening that the maintenance crew missed.

They could have been salvaged by the hospital for scrap or for re-use in another old building (surplus). These cages could probably be removed easily with the correct tools.

Nice catch! Seems like someone was just spending some time in an abandoned hospital, making a collage... perhaps a movie prop.

Thanks - Sigma 12-24 @ 14mm f/8.0

Thanks Steve, you are definitely more knowledgeable on these topics!