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

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

Central Islip, New York Central Islip (also known locally by its initials as CI) 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 St ...

, 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 continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

to house the sick from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

; the others were Kings Park,

Pilgrim State Hospital 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 wit ...

, 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 Is ...

. 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 ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

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 Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. 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 (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

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 was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

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) In rail terminology, a siding is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch lin ...

off the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , or LIRR, is a Rail transport, railroad 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 County on Long Islan ...

. 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 wi ...

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, constituting the eastern two-thirds of Long Island. It is bordered to its west by Nassau County, to its east by Gardiners Bay and the open Atlantic Ocean, to its no ...

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 university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...

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 Islip may refer to: Places England * Islip, Northamptonshire *Islip, Oxfordshire * Islip Manor Meadows United States *Islip, New York, a town in Suffolk County **Islip (hamlet), New York, located in the above town **Central Islip, New York, ...

Fairfield Properties Ballpark Fairfield Properties Ballpark is a 6,002-seat baseball park in Central Islip, New York that serves as the home of the Long Island Ducks, an independent professional baseball team that is a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. ...

, 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