The Central Islip Psychiatric Center, formerly State Hospital for the Insane, was a state

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

Central Islip, New York Central Islip is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip, New York, Islip in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 34,450 at the 2010 c ...

, United States from 1889 until 1996. The center was one of the four major hospital "farms" in central

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

to house the sick from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

; the others were Kings Park, Pilgrim State Hospital, and

Edgewood State Hospital Edgewood State Hospital was a tubercular/psychiatric hospital complex that formerly stood in Deer Park, New York, on Long Island. It was one of four state mental asylums built on Long Island (the others being Kings Park State Hospital, Central I ...

. In 1955 it housed 10,000 patients, making it the second largest psychiatric hospital in the United States next to Pilgrim State Hospital, which was the largest psychiatric institution ever to exist in the United States.

History

It opened in 1889 to house the sick from

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in what was called at the time the New Colony. Kings County Farm Colony opened in the fall of 1886 to house those from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Pilgrim opened in 1931 and Edgewood in 1946 (which acted as Pilgrim's Tubercular Division). The state bought the land for

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

25 per acre. 49 male and 40 female patients were admitted in 1889 for "O&O" (Occupation and Oxygen) and "R&R" (Rest and Relaxation) at a working farm. Patients cleared the land, constructed buildings, made the furniture and mattresses, sewed their clothing, grew crops and raised dairy cattle, pigs and chickens. After New York State bought it, it was renamed the Manhattan State Hospital for the Insane (although the "for the Insane" portion was frequently not included in articles). The initial buildings grew to be a nearly mile-long interconnected series of buildings called the "string of pearls." Until the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

patients would arrive by a special hospital train with bars on the windows on a

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch l ...

off the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...

. More modern buildings were arranged closer together in the Sunburst building. The hospital was renamed the Central Islip State Hospital and finally the Central Islip Psychiatric Center. It closed on October 10, 1996 when the last patients were transferred to the

Pilgrim Psychiatric Center Pilgrim Psychiatric Center, formerly known as Pilgrim State Hospital, is a state-run psychiatric hospital located in Brentwood, New York. Nine months after its official opening in 1931,the hospital's patient population was 2,018, as compared with ...

Current use

Most of the buildings, including the String of Pearls, have been demolished. The 1953 power plant was torn down in 2006, the Corcoran treatment building was torn down in 2008. As the hospital was being phased out, part of its grounds were used for

Suffolk County, New York Suffolk County () is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of New York. It is mainly located on the eastern end of Long Island, but also includes several smaller islands. According to the 2020 United States census, the county's populatio ...

to locate its offices in the Cohalan County Court Complex in 1992. The

New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a private research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long Island, and one in Manhattan. Additionally, it has a cybersecu ...

has the biggest collection of buildings in the Sunburst Building. The Town Center at Central Islip shopping center covers much of it. Islip Town Fire Museum, Bethpage Ballpark, and the

Alfonse M. D'Amato United States Courthouse The Alfonse M. D'Amato United States Courthouse is a List of United States federal courthouses, federal courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. It is located at 100 Federal Plaza in Central Islip, N ...

are also on the land.

References

External links

History of Central Islip Psychiatric Center
LIOddities.com.
Asylum Projects info
{{authority control 1889 establishments in New York (state) Hospitals established in 1889 Islip (town), New York Psychiatric hospitals in New York (state) 1996 disestablishments in New York (state) Demolished buildings and structures in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 2008 New York State Department of Mental Hygiene