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.
I am planning a trip over to check out how things are going over there and PLAY IN THE "NUBS section for a bit, RYON has been calling me BAD. My way in has been open for almost a full year and half, its just a quick climb away (hint hint)... I am in the market for 2 thing, that big bad SHOOK and a big place on the grounds THAT I CAN BET HAS NOT BEEN SEEN and is still there somewhere..... I have talked to the old man that worked around it 15 years ago but wont tell me where it is because "Well he told me it is 100% in use still today and is top secret.... That's all your getting out of me sorry!!! o one more thing there is a tunnel that goes to the river WHO HAS SEEN THAT? Also I WANNA KNOW whats going on in that shook's brain to think tagging all over this place is cool!!!!! WELL O WELL I wont loos sleep over a looser. I am over there enough, ill see him........ I have been trying to put up GO GIANTS!!! when I got up Sunday morning and someone wont let me Post it !!!! lololol THEY must not be a GIANTS fan O WELL,,,,, GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!
Ok so most tunnels are sealed up (spot welded) this just means time to bust out some tools and for the person who opened the theater (if you read this thanx) but this bullshit paint everywhere (not graffitti) goota stop graffitti is art just sprey painting some dumb talentless shit has to stop...your just showing off how crappy you can paint its a joke...but if anyone wants to know a lil of inside info about this place hit me up on facebook @ Urban Xploration
I went last night and saw people stealing pipes. About 6 people to be exact. I also saw 2 kids painting again , where do these people find so many pipes?!? I havent seen any copperpipes. And they also had some big stuff that cleary didn't belong,newer tv and tons of new clothes. Why is that stuff in there??do younthink people use it as a safehouse for stuff like that??? Kinda sketchy. Anyone have any insight??
I will start by saying for anyone new to this sport go to the nearest army navy shop and pick up a flashlight with the red lens cover in it. The red lens makes it very difficult for the light to be seen outside of windows by prying eyes AKA Hillbilly cops. Twice I have been to Hudson and seen people from the roof of cheney all the way over by the Kirk and Rec center just casually walking with regular flashlights. Wise up stupid!
Well it is safe to say that the New England area is being ravished of it's historic sites similar to this one at an insanely fast rate. kings Park township has been on the right track for years and they have won the battle by transforming the entire 500 acre comlex of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center into a public park! All you locals in Paughkeepsie need to stand up. I have already hooked up two people on this forum with good info and after the Attitude I got from a local yellow toothed cop and a dummy in a red pickup truck on the hudson grounds when we drove through I am willing to spill the beans on what I know about the place. Just shoot me an email which is lower in the comments here and I wanna see some live video of security on the tube! I managed to mock two different branches of security in one night on video!
I do have some of the info you are looking for check it out from 2010 www.hudsonvalleyruins.org .... check out that site in its entirety it is a good one. I have so much on this place and i live next to the walkway in Highland.......
They wouldn't be so fast to demolish this place, a lot of stuff would have to happen before they can even consider tearing anything down. It's a real shame the entire remaining facility has been shut down, I guess the state really doesn't want to pay to maintain anything and the outpatient treatments are truly effective.
I'm not sure where this demolition business came from but I live here and I'm up on my reading and have yet to see that anywhere not too mention I have a contact who is part of hudson heritage that I speak with almost daily I'm not saying anyone is lying or anything along those lines just would like to see the source of this info cited. These forums are full of soo much BS and misinformation its crazy and also I'm with this wardy fellow, shook the name suites ya bro and I advise you to stay outta here or anywhere else cuz you got a bounty on your head same goes for PHANTOM you dudes are lame little kids that should be home doin homework and playin on facebook or helpin yer moms out around the house. People like this are exactly why these places are hot and why you got cops and caretakers hiding in bushes tryin to catch people who actually wanna explore and take pictures make movies etc. VANDALS BEWARE!!
Think if I ask the grounds keeper nicely he would let me in to take some pics of my car .... It's such a nice background... Let me no I hope so I just want some nice pics b4 this place is ghone ..
Not true-- I was up there on Wednesday (Feb 1) and was able to use my old entrance to get into Cheney. Also found a second entrance if need be. Someone was definitely on the roof (attic level) which scared the hell out of me, so I got out. There's also an entrance to Ryon Hall, so you must have not looked hard enough.
This talk of demolition is truly depressing-- enjoy it while you can, guys. And don't vandalize the place-- let others have the chance to enjoy the campus. Plus, if people get caught or if vandalism is very obvious, they're going to up security and lock the place down.
There are Still many ways in this place!!! Shook!!, IN THE CHENEY, NA YOU DON'T SAY...... That and the rec center is his stomping grounds LOL. HE STILL TO SCARED TO VENTURE OFF the nubs section lololololo.. Every one I have ever talked to starts out in those buildings, let him paint it up IF I see him I am GOING RIGHT UP to his PUNK - - -, EVEN IF HE HAS 10 of his boys, and you can bet it will be on camera,.. People who are still trashing this place you will get yours just grow up. This place gets so trashed, because that is how the nubs(or shook) and the people trying to play tough DEAL WITH THERE FEAR because they are scared!!! lol SHOOK I WILL FIND YOU TOO I am 6' 220 shaved head you will know, ill walk up face to face to find out why you do so many tags in the same area AND MAKE THIS PLACE LOOK LIKE A CRACK HEAD HANG OUT , I THINK YOU MUST BE USE TO THAT IF YOU THINK ITS COOL!!!!!!! .. I am a nice guy and I just think this place should be RESPECTED, Hate me for just speaking my mind, its fine with me!!!!!
Just went on the 31st,saw some fresh shook tags,like i could still smell the paint fresh which leads me to believe we were close to catching this guy. While traveling upstairs,we heard some people moving so we decided to be very quiet7slow,no lights. Once we say them it was about 6 or 7 kids with lights,spray painting the wall. since we were out numbered we waited for them to leave,looking at the wall quess what i found? an enormous silver "SHOOK" piece of graffiti,we decided to follow them but as we did we noticed the wy they went only had one way donw,and it was blocked...dissapeared it seems,Shook is a ghost!! Still a good night,almost caught the one who has been painting this place for the past 3 years,im not sure if anyone will ever catch "SHOOK" but now im on a mission!! . the new tags were all in the cheney building,anyone see any other new tags in different places?? let me know!! i want to know where he likes to go spray paint
How is it possible to demo this place if its a state landmark?! I read it online that it was to start in may,but could hey be talking about the active one up the street?? i was there a week ago and there were still windows open,but a car driving thru too.. Any information please let me know on here or e-mail me!! boardsld2@aol.com !! Happy exploring
So getting in at all is pretty much impossible now...?
Is in the brick building with 3 floors with the boarded up door and windows.. You people are something Else, all you guys want free info!!! If you people started from comment one and read them all you can find out a SH*# load of info and answer all your own questions!!!!!! Ill give 20$ tours hit me up!!!!!! NEW INFO THEY JUST SHUT EVERY DOOR AT THIS PLACE, EVEN THE STATE OWNED BUILDINGS THAT WERE BEING ON THE 9G SIDE AS OF JAN,2012 NOW 100% SHUT DOWN JUST IN PK JOURNAL!!!!!!!!!!! SO DEMO MUST BE IN THE SOON FUTURE FOR THE LANDS
Anyone tell me which building houses morgue? Also whats deal with tunnels for real..
Yes they cut out the pipes and make piles then carry them out to their cars or whatever they use to haul them away. It is a big business now since the price of copper per pound has increased to like almost $3.00 a LB. the tunnels I guess have been sealed up by the kirkbride as well last time we ventured up that way the tunnels opened right up into a pile of debris.
lololol
Hey, about the pipe robbers. The last time I went, I wasnt really sure if there was a pipe robber in the vicinity but I'd come across large pipes off the wall and on the ground. I thought maybe they were taking them down and leaving then to come back for later but we never actually ran into the person that left them there. In short, does metal pipes on the ground mean a robber is nearby or has everyone encountered these pipes? I surely would like to call the police to report robbery. Also, the tunnels, when I walked the tunnel, I think I was only in the one section between building 30, Ryon hall, Cheney and the kirkbride, but once you reach the kirkbride there is a gate welded. Where did you go that you saw collapses in the tunnel? Haven't been in since forever and only on my last trip did I find a tunnel entrance. All the outside tunnel entrances are welded shut too.
Well we recently hit up Hudson for our second overnight trip only this time things were different. The tunnels have been welded up tight in Cheney "the tall building" as well as the small two story building next to the Rec center that used to have easy tunnel access. We could not get into Ryan Hall to confirm if the tunnels have been closed there. The tunnels only lead from Cheney to Ryan Hall, and the small building right accross from cheney next to the Rec center and two small cotages then up to the Kirkbride where they get cut off from the collapsing floors due to fire damage. In a nut shell all the buildings have been boarded up pretty tightly and pipe stealers have begun the rage in the basements. My advice to anyone who comes accross pipe stealers is to go back to your cars, call the cops and dime there asses out. Anyone can hit me up at teamsilentstorms@gmail.com
People were asking me how I know about Ryon Hall beng for the violent patients and stuff. I did a lot of research and stuff that expanded well beyond your typical google search. What I found out about Ryon Hall was an excerpt from a book titled 'Acts of Conscience: World War II, Mental Institutions and Religious Objectors' by Steven J. Taylor. He spells Ryon Hall as Ryan Hall but specifically mentions HRSH, Poughkeepsie. I'm not sure what an MCC unit but he talks about having COs assigned to different buildings (corrections officers). this is going on in 1945. He says:
The COs were assigned to different buildings at the institution. One of them was Ryan hall, the building for disturbed and violent patients.... Regular attendants were brutal and cruel to patients: "hitting them, tapping their penis's with keys." COs went to administration to report abuse. Edwin Schrag recalled what happened:
"There was on one ward, especially, the disturbed ward, the violent ward, They sometimes called it, there as quite a bit of abuse of patients. They would torment the patients and get a big kick out of it. So some of us decided... We're going to talk to the authorities about this. Two of the fellows got pretty brave and, first, They went to our camp director.... They went to the personnel director... He says "this is going to the top," Dr. Ross, the superintendent of the hospital. So they went and this is exactly what Dr. Ross had been waiting for... He knew this mistreatment of patients had been going on, but somehow he cold never catch anyone... He called us in. There were four of us on that ward and we had to give him our story."
Long story short, they fired 4 of the regular attendants, it was the next biggest story in the Poughkeepsie newspaper the following day. 2 of the attendants were war veterans, one from wwI and the other in wwII. The book goes into possible patient abuse at other state hospitals and regular attendants being unionized and stuff. They called the incident the "Ryon Hall incident." I think this may be the only excerpt in this book about HRSH, but it goes on to say that a visit from the first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, and her secretary resulted in further investigation.
If this place is a state land mark or park or what ever they declared it then y is it against the law to go there? WTF I is there a huge plack thing on the kirkbride ? Who is gunna read it the deer that walk around or mabey some birds? Like WTF can I hop in the civic and take a tour and learn some shit ? Or mabey that beat up pickup truck can give me a ride through this place all am saying is I'd like to go and take some pics without getting chased by so underpaid guy with a flashlight on his family sedan ... Poughkeepsie is boaring as hell would it kill the to let me see this place... Who even owns this place now?
No, we didn't see a soul-- alive or otherwise!
How was this found out about Ryon hall? they did not put out to much on this place.... I love the sing going in to the one court yard in the middle of the place that reads just as you open the door to go out "keep this door closed, this door is keep closed for YOUR safety!! or something real close to that.
So did you run into Johnny Law? The cops are always patrolling and hanging around Home Depot, it's like they can sense a potential trespasser. Anyway, the Cheney Building was mostly a medical building where they did scans, X-rays, gynecological stuff. I'm sure they had outpatient stuff too. Ryon Hall is where they kept the criminal and violent mental patients. Or at least that's what I heard. They did lobotomies and electroshock therapies there.
My friend and I went there for the first time earlier this week (we're from the area). After reading how well patrolled the place is, we should have been more careful. We parked and Home Depot and walked up the access road (I'll use the old rail tracks next time). We explored half the perimeter of Cheney (which I'm assuming is the tall one). Found an entrance pretty easily and ended up in the basement. We also saw the first and second floors. In the basement, we found a room with 1950s medical dictionaries, floppy disks, and old typewriters, and a room with maybe 150-200 bed frames. Don't remember what was on the first floor, but the second floor had what looks like a large sitting area, and a room littered with papers-- a patient record from 1995, Poughkeepsie Journal ads from 2000, Nynex bills from '97, a promotional guide for a '98 Accord and a computer monitor. Also on that floor, was a room where medicine seemed to be stored, button-down shirts laying everywhere, Dell boxes, and a Daily News from February 2001 which was the newest thing I saw (did the building really dilapidate that much in 12 years?). Running out of sunlight, we went to the rec building and got in easily. Saw the auditorium (my flashlight was dying, though), the pool (vile!), 50s-looking lunch counter and bowling alley. I'd like to see more of Cheney. What were Cheney and Ryon used for? Administration? Housing?
Went up a few weeks ago and cant find a way into the vheney building . anyone have a solution to this or any other info or stories contact me!! af1king845@yahoo.com . check out youtube video,search af1king845 .
Ya ur wright it Jaipur that big so hey what about that big blue building next to hydepark drivein movies it's like an old farm building If u can get in there that would be legit ....
Went up there and the place certainly is not like Fort Knox. I didn't see any patrols and there was access to many of the buildings. No squatters or pipe-robber encounters. Just a quiet trip. Finally found access to the tunnels, thanks to whoever wrote out the directions on the walls, sadly, the kirkbride entrance is blocked off still, somehow, I feel it's for the better. The building seems to have fallen into deeper disrepair. Did they strip off the rest of the roof or did it cave in? The male ward just looks like an empty topless shell now. I noticed some damage to the female wings' roof too, you can see it on the satellite view of google maps. Fun.
Its only 1 room,not much exploring and kind of pointless aside from the spray paint on everything...
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