Photo: "Nothing But A Memory"

 
 

If you follow my photography or blog, you’ve likely heard how devastated I am that this beautiful, former asylum has met its demise. When I took this photo, I was standing in a corridor that is now merely a memory. 

People often ask me why I shoot these locations and this building right here is a perfect example why. I first photographed this hospital 6 years ago and I returned last year for a second time. Here we are one year later and nothing remains but a small center section of the building. These places are vanishing rapidly and I want to be there to document as many historic sites as I can. 

Photo: "Goodbye"

Demolition on Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital has been underway for a few months now and yesterday, video was posted showing the demolition has reached the Administration section of the Kirkbride, which means this corridor is gone. 

In a few months, she will be nothing more than a memory and that is very tragic. History is vanishing right before our eyes and once it is gone, it will be too late to ever get it back…

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: "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. 

Photo: "The Green Room"

I remembered seeing this gorgeous room on my very brief first visit to Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital many years ago, but I didn't find the time to photograph it. During my trip last Spring, I made it a priority to find it and photograph it. 

This room did not contain any built in closets so one could speculate that this room was intended to hold multiple patient beds and house more than one patient. 

(This image is a pano comprised of 3 horizontal images taken with my tilt shift and stacked vertically.)

 
 

Photo: "Greystone Psychiatric Power Plant"

Kirkbride asylums were constructed to be self-sufficient and most campuses contained a dairy and agricultural farm, a post office, recreational facilities, water utilities and a power plant. Greystone Park Psychiatic Hospital was no exception.

This power station generated power for the entire campus, which included the main Kirbride building, which was designed to house 450 patients, nurses quarters and all other ancillary buildings. 

(3 image pano stitched vertically, shot with Canon 17mm TS-E)

Photo: "Through the Eyes of a Patient"

Many patients admitted to psychiatric facilities in the late 1800's and early 1900's did not actually need mental health care. Many patients exhibited symptoms of laziness, hysteria, religious enthusiasm or other health conditions, such as menopause, leading doctors to believe the patients were mentally ill.

Once admitted, the patients would be placed in a single or double room, with one or two beds and a single window through which they would gaze upon the world. Most of us can't even begin to imagine how devastatingly lonely that would feel.

Photo: "Not Always Good Memories, But Always Significant"

Female violent ward in Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital - Morris Plains, New Jersey

People often ask me what draws me to places like this, but the answer is not always obvious to most. Sure people understand that I find beauty in decaying asylums, factories, ships and houses of worship, because let's be honest, they just don't make them like they used to, but the real reason is much less superficial. 

I do this for me because it makes me feel alive and it's what I want to contribute to this world, images of historic places that we are tearing down way too quickly. But I also do it for the dozens of grandparents, mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, cousins and friends who knew someone who was cared for or worked in one of these locations. During the time that these asylums, for example, were in operation, very little was known about mental health. People who were lazy, or practicing religion to frequently were admitted into an asylum. Even women experiencing menopause were deemed insane and placed inside these facilities. 

When I receive an email from a women who never knew her Grandmother because she was admitted to Greystone Park Psychiatric asylum in 1918, or a note from a son about how his father was stationed on the USNS Northern Light many decades ago, I am quickly reminded that this is why I photograph these places. It's not for money, status, likes or +1's, it's for the memories that remain inside these walls, the stories eagerly hoping to come back to life. 

Photo: "Filtered Sunlight"

 
 

Patient rooms, such as this, inside the former Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in New Jersey were designed to hold one or two patients, but within about 10 years of opening, the hospital experienced severe overcrowding and was treating almost double the patients it was designed to treat. Patients were crammed to these small rooms and beds were added and moved into the hallways.