Photo: "Kirkbride Blue Hour"

Taken during blue hour on a full moon evening.

This is another one of my favorite Kirkbride buildings at the Hudson River Psychiatric Hospital in New York. 

Much of the building has decayed over the years since closing in 2003. Poughkeepsie, New York experiences snow, heat and humidity throughout the year, which have all contributed to the demise of the wings of this hospital. Fortunately, the Administration section, shown here, has remained in tact due to a layer of protection placed over the roof before the weather took a toll. 

New Greystone Psychiatric Historical Photo Essay

Sadly, the beautiful Kirkbride building at the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital is at the end of her life. Demolition is looming in the very near future for this architectural beauty. 

In honor of this glorious structure, I have added a new photo gallery on my website: http://amyheiden.com/greystone-park-psychiatric/

Photo: "Blast Lock Doors, Silo No. 1"

 
 

100 feet below the surface, inside a pitch dark Titan I ICBM Missile Silo, looking through a blast lock door. 

These doors protected the complex from an explosion inside the silo or an attack on the silo. Each of the silos was separated from the complex by 2 blast lock doors. You can see the second set in the background of this image. 

Photo: "The Magnificent Greystone Psychiatric Hospital"

I wish the outcome had been different. Seeing this beautiful building vanish has broken my faith in politicians and has given me very little hope that many structures like this will be saved in the future years to come. Many Kirkbride structures are already gone and now the Greystone Psychiatric Hospital will be added to the list. 

Once the largest contiguous building in the United States, this structure opened in 1876 and was designed to house a few hundred mentally ill patients of New Jersey and the surrounding areas. 

Sunset, Sutro Baths

I had low expectations for this sunset last weekend. A friend had invited me to meet up that morning but the cloud cover was thick and the wind was blowing vigorously along the coast. I went to the beach with the intentions of hanging out and catching up more than shooting, but miraculously, the clouds began to clear just as the sun began to near the horizon. 

Photo: "Administration Staircase, Blue Hour"

 
 

This image was shot during blue hour inside the Administration Building at the former Hudson River State Hospital in New York. I really do love this staircase. Sadly, blue hour never lasts as long as I would like, so by the time I took the 3 shots necessary for this pano, it was dark and the blue hue was gone.

Photo: "Nature's Doctor"

Nature has some incredible healing qualities. There's something about fresh air, your toes in the sand, leaves rustling in every direction, critters dancing around your feet and the open sky above your head that creates a sort of natural high.

Watching this sunset being painted in the sky was magical. I had been spying on the clouds all afternoon and hoped it would unfold like it did. When I arrived at the beach, I was shocked to see I was the only person on the sand. 

Photo: "Teal and Golden Memories"

Sadly, in a few months, this asylum will be nothing more than dust. Abatement has already begin inside this massive Kirkbride building. 

Within four years of this facility opening in the late 1800′s, the hospital was already accommodating 800 patients, though it was only designed to care for 600. At the hospital’s peak, in 1953, Greystone housed over 7,000 patients, many soldiers suffering from PTSD post World War.