Welcome to the Hudson River State Hospital located in the United States in Poughkeepsie, New York. This gigantic hospital has overlooked the Hudson River for 136 years since its initial construction in 1871. The various hospital buildings were constructed and belong to the famous Kirkbride architectural order (read more on this excellent website).
The hospital was divided into two wings, for male and female patients, with an administration section located in the center. The male wing was much larger than the respective female wing. This was caused by the number of patients being unequal between the sexes (see the sky view from the hospital using the link above).
The beauty of the decay was unbelievable in this hospital. Most of the original constructions had been preserved.
Future renovation construction of the hospital were planned long ago. A fire, caused by lightning, burned the male wing in June 2007. As of the date of this article, the fate of Hudson Psyche Center remains unknown.
Hopefully this awesome Kirkbride will be saved. The United States is certainly not Europe and listing historical buildings as monuments might not be enough to protect them…
Archive documents dated between 1891 and 1918 (click on a thumbnail to enlarge):
Special thanks to Dr. Bob for sharing the old postcards.
Reference for the scanned documents: Handbook of the State Hospital Commission and the Hospitals for the Insane, 1918, E.S.Graney.
Former psychiatric center building is 'total loss' 2 fires burn Poughkeepsie site By Sarah Bradshaw • Poughkeepsie Journal • April 24, 2010
Firefighters put out a smoldering fire Friday afternoon at the former Hudson River Psychiatric Center, only to be called back again for a separate fire that blazed all night, Fairview District Fire Chief Tory Gallante said. The overnight fire caused "severe damage" to a three-story former staff house on the Route 9, Town of Poughkeepsie property, Gallante said. "The building is a total loss." Fairview was dispatched at about 11 p.m. and battled the blaze for about three hours, closing Route 9 for a portion of the time to secure additional water sources, the chief said. Due to fire hot spots, the firemen stayed at the scene until about noon today.An earlier Friday fire at the same center caused damaged to several rooms in Ryon Hall, Gallante said. Fairview responded to the scene at about 1:30 p.m. Friday — about 9.5 hours prior to the large structure fire. Gallante said the Ryon Hall fire probably had been set Thursday and had burned throughout the night into the morning. When firefighters arrived, it was smoldering, he said. Both fires are under investigation by the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department. The Dutchess County Fire Investigation Division is also investigating the larger structure fire, Gallante said. Fairview was assisted by fire districts from Arlington, Roosevelt and the City of Poughkeepsie in addition to Transcare Ambulance, and the Town of Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park police departments. This isn't the first recent fire at the vacant property. In May 2007, the center's main building burned for days. The cause of the 2007 fire was determined to be a lightning strike.
The site is owned by Hudson Heritage CPCR Ventures. A development proposal for a mix of residential and commercial uses is in the review stages.
i was in ryon hall the other day down in the basement where the detox center was.i dont know if any one else has experinced any strange things down their, but cant really explain the stuff that i heard their.sounds of doors slamming and also sounds of people having conversations or whispering. I searched with my friends but couldnt find anyone their.i also went into the tunnels and came upon a lower tunnel off the main one which led to a couple of rooms in a lower part of ryon hall.The one room was about 6x8 or so and had a big steel door which locked from the inside. On the wall was 2 big electric swiches with huge caables running from them.In the corner of the room was a cement slab with the cables running up through it , it looked as if a chair was bolted to the concrete and the room also had a drain in the center of the floor . Off of that room was another room like a little dr. office or a place to sleep with a sink and stuff.If any one has any info about this stuff please write back.Very strange things at the psych center.
(continued from post below) Also, a few buildings are rather fire damaged (and others are water damaged, but not as bad). We tried to walk in through the huge holes in the facade but it mainly just leads to debris and rusty stuff. Also, wear long pants since there's a lot of thorn bushes. That's about it.
Was there today. Behind Home Depot there's a sort of industrial area with a path (below the power lines) that you can follow and it will take you into the main property. It was a Saturday and I didn't see a single person on the premises besides me and my two friends. Almost all the doors are nailed shut but you can get into a good amount of the buildings. A particularly large building (don't know the name) can be accessed by taking the perfectly accesible fire escape up a few floors until you hit the floor that isn't closed off from the fire escape. A lot of the floor in this building has big holes in it and many of the rooms collapsed completely, so take caution. Most of the workshop buildings on the other side of the campus are completely safe though (floors/stairs all intact). I didn't have any issues with the floor collapsing under me (that would be bad) but you could easily fall through the holes or fall down a few levels if you walked into a room without looking down and seeing that there's no floor. There's some pretty amazing stuff to see. There's also a whole ton of pealing lead paint and probably asbestos. I didn't wear a respirator or even a surgical mask, which, in retrospect, probably would've been a good idea. Apparently there is a pipe robber who frequents the place (read comments on this page to hear more about him) but I didn't see/hear him. There were a few pigeons but I didn't see any mice, rats or even bugs the entire time. So basically it's a pretty cool place to explore.
It seems like a lot of you guys have had good luck getting onto the property and into the buildings without getting harassed. I'm heading into NY next weekend, and was planning on taking a trip to check this beauty out. Anything I should be aware of before I head out - best way in, main location of guards, stuff like that? Any info would be great. Thanks in advance!
after march 3/11/10 no more security at norwich state hospital please pass along to everyone thank you
When I was in CYO at Holy Trinity Church in Poughkeepsie, we would play guitars at mass for the patients. Made me appreciate what I had...
When I was 10 or 11 and I'm 56 now, my dad, who whats a college soccer referee took me with him to the soccer fields located on the hospital grounds to referee the game between Bard and Marist.
I can't wait for this next spring, open game on the whole property, but no more ice on the swimming pool. =(
<3 the Town of Poughkeepsie Police!</p>
This place is beautiful looking! Coming to find out former classmates went here in 1972 for a class field trip for HS Psychology- I missed out! Who knew! That had to have been so awesome. I didn't realize you can actually walk the grounds. Next time I am in Poughkeepsie I will do that.
this souds like fun new gaurds to mess with se you all there lol
I would like to take this opportunity to stress the fact that the former state hospital is privately owned and does have paid security. I assure you, the project manager is authorized to and regularly does, sign complaints against violators with the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department . Think twice before going on the property or face the chance of prosecution. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Hi everyone, I commented here a while back, and thanks for the responses that I got!
Well, I'm here again to try and get some more official stories from either those who have worked at HRPC or were patients here, or lived very close by and were in some way affected - either it was your personal playground growing up or something else... . I plan on writing an article for a certain publication (once I get the official O.K. I'll let you know which one).
But I would like to stress, I would like the story, good or bad, from the actual person who experienced the events themselves. You can email me your story at: kmarsh8619@yahoo.com
THANKS!
Spent 7 hours there today. Was actually able to make it all the way to the top of the female wards, although much of it is most certainly impassable. Also explored the entire main Kirk building, as well as Snow and a lot of Cheney, which is massive. It's a tragedy as to what's happened to this place, and I'm glad I got to experience it. Nice photos!
you want to talk about things in the buildings and crazy things happening.. ill give you a few clues.. just spend a night in one building...ryan hall espcially. the old main building if you go into the upper floors . such fun. of course we were all grand for playing games too. but truely yes. ghost and funny things reside on hudson river state hospital grounds.
Grew up on Inwood Ave and can tell you everything about this place- 45 years of information. I have fond memories as this was my childhood stomping ground. Sad to see the way it has been allowed to decay, it was truly incredible in its day. I remember when it was an active city in itself, could tell some amusing stories of the patients! Many in the 1970's were LSD patients, Tim Learys followers from Millbrook. In the mid 70's my brother went to school with a kid who tried to commit suicide and was sent there- only because he had blown half his face off and I guess he had to be hidden away...don't know what happened to him when it closed. Up by the old ball field and through that area were more buildings torn down in the early 80's due to apesto's (they buried it, hence the fencing in those area's. I recall a few unruly ones that sat out in the fenced in porches, but none that were dangerous did I ever come across wandering. Those in the fenced porches would sometimes jump up and yell, rattle the wire and swear but it was probably more for attention and trying to scare. We used to play ball at the old ball field, tennis at the old courtes, it was our childhood stomping ground. It was like being in New York city, staff and patients driving/walking around, literally its own entity. Never had a scary/ghosty experience, and I walked the grounds at night after it was abandoned.
Hey I am starting a paranormal investiagtion team and I am looking for some new members to join. If anyone is at all interested then let me know. If you want to call or text that would be fine. 860-550-5974
I went there last summer with my husband. We spent the whole day looking around, but didn't go into any of the buildings. A word of caution, they do have private security and they WILL PROSECUTE!!!! If you go make sure you don't have anything that could be used for breaking and entering (screwdriver, pocket knife etc) and don't take anything out with you. Tresspassing is a fine, burglary is jail time. If you do go in, take a dust or respirator. (asbestos and mold are everywhere) We took over 500 pictures that day and I am still editing them. It is AMAZING!!!!! We are planning on collection another Kirkbride later this year. Good Luck!
i went there yesturday but i went to the one next to home depot and not the one all the way in the back shit was creepy and we got lost for a half hour in side went all the way to the roof it has a good view at night going back today to the one in the back heard it has a pool and bowling ally
i just found out about this place a week ago. i was walking up route 9 and went past the chained-off gate on the east side of the road. i wondered what it led to, since i had seen a couple abandoned houses up on the hill. i had no idea. i went with a friend who hadn't heard of the place, but had worked in a couple mental hospitals and counseling centers. it was pretty creepy, but the grounds were beautiful. we talked about putting some of it to use as farm or pasture land. we didn't get into many of the buildings, but the few that we saw were impressive. i'd recommend anyone who goes there tries to find the bus shelter that has a tree growing inside it. it's somewhere in the back near the workshops.
hey guys im into urbex too. i live in nj, lke 20 mins from marlboro insane asylum (really good) and a bit farther from princton developmental center (skillman) i have also been to pilgrim, central islip, and kings park and i really would like to check this place out one day! feel free to contact me with any good info devvo2go @ gmail. com
I have done some police training at this awesome place before the fire in 2007 and found it very interesting. We did night vision in the auditorim and i had a weird feeling about the place, we also went into the indoor pool area and it had a really dark feeling to it, we took pictures of our training and a week later i looked at some of the pictures and saw some orbs in the pictures, i heard a story from a carpenter that worked there when they closed up and he said he could hear people screaming in the basement where they would do shock treatment for the insane, but there were no residents there at the time because it was closed. im not sure if i believe in all the stuff people talk about but i would love to go back and do some ghost hunting. Its really a pretty place that should be preserved.
Did you go this past Sunday? I saw someone walking a dog but i wasn't sure if was a property manager or something so I walked away.
I would be interested in finding the entrance to the tunnels. I have taken a lot of time walking around the area and taking pictures for different classes I've had. Someone saw some of my pictures and told me about the tunnels there and the morgue; I have heard so many dfiferent disturbing stories and as weird as it is I really wanna know more about them and where they are if anyone has any information please write back directions. thanks.
YES! I saw them yesterday. What a beautiful day it was to be up there. Saw some hunters though.. That's new to me.
On the road from Cheney to the Kirkbride, there are several maple trees that are an absolutely brilliant yellows and reds; definately awesome colors!!!
It's all good Andrew. That was only my second time into the female Kirk, so I definitely had a good time. You and your friend were chill and I would love to show you some more stuff. Should have come to Cheney last night though. Once the moon fully came out it was perfect for moon shoots. E-mail me next time you go!
P.s- Thank you for reiterating that I am NOT a cop. =)
Made my second trip today with a friend, and made our way into the rec center, took some cool pics. Than made our way past the female south wing, and ended up running into Jack and Alex. My friend and I probably wouldn't have been able to make it into the building if it wasn't for them, so thanks for that, and thanks for showing us around. We plan on returning soon and had a great time and got some great pics. I was kinda spacing out towards the end and meant to thank you when Alex was saying bye to yall, but by the time yall were walkn away I kinda realized how hard I was spacing out. Thanks again though and I hope to see ya again soon!
Ross Pavillion is now the new Hudson River Psych Center, Hillcrest is run by Hudson River Housing, and is apartments for homeless people or supportive living. Ryan hall is the building I worked in as MARC Detox(Sobering Up Station) that is the building across from Cheney or the farthest south, it is the first bld you come to from behind Home Depot. Up by Hillcrest just east of it, there is the rainbow car wash, run by patients. All east of 9G, and going up the road from cottage to Hillcrest on the left is Transitions, a 24 hour lockdown Alternative to jail program.
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