Letchworth Village was, and probably still is, one of the most infamous psychiatric hospitals in the USA, known primarily for it's shocking widespread mistreatment of patients over the years and generally awful conditions at it's peak occupancy in the 1960s. It's by far one of the most well known abandoned hospitals in the north-east, everyone knows about it and almost every explorer in the north-east has been to it at some point much like Kings Park on Long Island. In 2015 I visited it very very briefly after exploring the nearby Rockland Psychiatric Hospital which, until it was demolished a few years ago, was much better in every conceivable way, so going here was pretty much an afterthought to kill some time - we went into one building and I took one photo of the ruined mortuary and that was that. Despite how totally ruinous a lot of the place is, it was somewhere I'd always wanted to return to and with it being not too far outside New York City it was pretty easy to get to.
Letchworth Village was opened in 1911, in the small hamlet of Thiells, and over the decades it grew to an enormous size with, at it's peak, over 130 buildings spread across a huge expanse of land. It was named after American businessman William Pryor Letchworth, who fought for reform in the treatment of mental illnesses and children. It's huge size - almost four square miles - and dozens of smaller buildings spread out in a village plan was meant to be more humane than the more common high-rise crowded together asylum buildings on other campuses. It was conceived as a type of residential self-sufficient farming village providing care and therapy to the mentally ill. The hospital gained a reputation for inadequate care and neglect only a decade or so after opening, with among other things reported, residents abusing each other and staff abusing each other. In 1972 the hospital gained national attention when an ABC News crew filming a documentary called 'Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace', a film about the treatment of mentally disabled children in New York State, uncovered the deplorable conditions children were being housed in and the inhumane ways they were being treated. I've seen some of the documentary and it's extremely harrowing to watch in a lot of places.
Following the release of the documentary, funding was increased through the 1970s in an effort to address the staffing levels and overcrowding. Through the 1980s though the patient numbers began to decrease simply through a lack of new patients being admitted, with doctors preferring the care in the community style approach. Letchworth closed it's doors permanently in 1996 and a large part of the facility has been abandoned ever since, although a large number of buildings have since either been demolished or repurposed. After closure the grounds became a public park and it became a popular spot for exploring, graffers, and other people due to it's almost total lack of security other than the occasional local or state police trooper driving through the site. We actually encountered one on our way out as we walked down one of the roads, who was perfectly nice and pretty much said he didn't care if we went in the buildings or not.
Most of the buildings left are repetitive dormitory type buildings, we did the former medical hospital building and one other I can't remember what, I'd definitely go back here to chill out and have a nice relaxing explore though as there is plenty more to see if you're keen, and despite how ruined it is it's still got some nice photogenic parts.
To finish, a few shots of other buildings we passed. It's one of those places that's very difficult to show the scale of in photos.
Thanks for looking
Letchworth Village was opened in 1911, in the small hamlet of Thiells, and over the decades it grew to an enormous size with, at it's peak, over 130 buildings spread across a huge expanse of land. It was named after American businessman William Pryor Letchworth, who fought for reform in the treatment of mental illnesses and children. It's huge size - almost four square miles - and dozens of smaller buildings spread out in a village plan was meant to be more humane than the more common high-rise crowded together asylum buildings on other campuses. It was conceived as a type of residential self-sufficient farming village providing care and therapy to the mentally ill. The hospital gained a reputation for inadequate care and neglect only a decade or so after opening, with among other things reported, residents abusing each other and staff abusing each other. In 1972 the hospital gained national attention when an ABC News crew filming a documentary called 'Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace', a film about the treatment of mentally disabled children in New York State, uncovered the deplorable conditions children were being housed in and the inhumane ways they were being treated. I've seen some of the documentary and it's extremely harrowing to watch in a lot of places.
Following the release of the documentary, funding was increased through the 1970s in an effort to address the staffing levels and overcrowding. Through the 1980s though the patient numbers began to decrease simply through a lack of new patients being admitted, with doctors preferring the care in the community style approach. Letchworth closed it's doors permanently in 1996 and a large part of the facility has been abandoned ever since, although a large number of buildings have since either been demolished or repurposed. After closure the grounds became a public park and it became a popular spot for exploring, graffers, and other people due to it's almost total lack of security other than the occasional local or state police trooper driving through the site. We actually encountered one on our way out as we walked down one of the roads, who was perfectly nice and pretty much said he didn't care if we went in the buildings or not.
Most of the buildings left are repetitive dormitory type buildings, we did the former medical hospital building and one other I can't remember what, I'd definitely go back here to chill out and have a nice relaxing explore though as there is plenty more to see if you're keen, and despite how ruined it is it's still got some nice photogenic parts.
To finish, a few shots of other buildings we passed. It's one of those places that's very difficult to show the scale of in photos.
Thanks for looking
