Chilling Photos Of The Abandoned Upstate New York Asylum That Will Soon Be A College Campus

Life-long New Yorker David Allee has spent his summers in rural Connecticut for as long as he can remember. Every year, on his drive up to his family's country house, he would pass by the Harlem Psychiatric Hospital, a massive complex that dominates the upstate town of Wingdale.

Originally slated to be a correctional facility until the plan was derailed by Wingdale locals, the hospital treated patients suffering from severe psychological and psychiatric issues from 1924 until it closed its doors in 1994.

The Harlem Psychiatric Hospital has sat abandoned for 20 years, giving it an unnerving atmosphere. It was recently purchased by a small college, which has already started to update the complex.

Allee made a dozen trips to the hospital to capture the campus in its abandoned state, photographing the buildings and surrounding area. He has shared a selection of the photos here, but you can see more of his work on his Facebook page.

The hospital is made up of 80 buildings over 800 acres of land. When it was opened in 1924, the prevailing approach to psychiatric care was to remove patients as much as possible from the stresses of daily life.

David Allee

This is the entrance to the main building. The idea with the Harlem Psychiatric Hospital was to provide patients with every aspect of daily life they might need or want.

David Allee

This is the entrance lobby of the hospital. The Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center was originally built to lessen overcrowding at nearby institutions. Because patients became dependent on asylums, they rarely left. Hospital populations continually grew and overcrowding led to poor living conditions.

David Allee

David Allee

David Allee

The campus was so large that there was even a 9-hole golf course that doctors could play on. Patients were often encouraged to be caddies.

David Allee

The complex also had its own bakery, a bowling alley, and one of the biggest dairy farms in the state.

David Allee

The complex produced its own energy via a dam and hydroelectric power plant.

David Allee

There was also an ice-cream parlor that patients could gather at. The trend towards "complete institutions" (places that encompassed all of patients lives) fell out of fashion in the 1960s, as overcrowding and underfunding led to wide abuses at hospitals.

David Allee

David Allee

The complex has a Metro-North Railroad stop, with direct service to New York City, in the middle of the campus. The rail stop has made the area attractive to developers.

David Allee

Since the hospital closed in 1994, jobs in the town have dried up. Most full-time residents now commute to New York City for work. Many of the other townspeople are only weekenders who live and work full-time in Manhattan.

David Allee

For the last 15 years, developers have been trying to convert the complex into a mixed use development for seniors. Wingdale locals fought the developers and prevented the construction.

David Allee

Last year, the complex was bought by Olivet University, a small evangelical Christian college based in San Francisco. Olivet has begun to clean up the complex, mowing lawns, stripping brush, and clearing land for sports fields.

David Allee

Wingdale residents are actually excited about the arrival of Olivet, according to the New York Times. Residents expect that the college will draw new jobs and commerce to the town.

David Allee

While it hasn't be released exactly what Olivet's plans are, it appears that the college intends to use the existing buildings. Allee, who used to be an urban planner, doesn't think that's a good idea.

David Allee

"It's become a hazardous waste site. The buildings were so full of asbestos and mold that I'm shocked anybody thinks they could rehab them," says Allee.

David Allee