New York City Farm Colony, Historic poorhouse in Staten Island, United States.
New York City Farm Colony is a building complex on rolling hills in Staten Island. Administrative blocks, dormitories, and farm structures sit across the grounds.
The complex began in 1829 as Richmond County Poor Farm and offered shelter and work to thousands. Operations ended in 1975 with its closure.
Residents grew vegetables and cared for animals that supplied the daily needs of the place. The name points to a farming system that now stands empty.
The buildings are closed due to collapse risk and sit near Seaview Hospital. Entry is not allowed.
The red brick buildings in Dutch Revival style have steep gabled roofs and dormers. The structures connect through covered walkways.
Location: Staten Island
Address: 501 Brielle Ave, Staten Island, NY 10314, USA
Phone: +17186050900
GPS coordinates: 40.59360,-74.13860
Latest update: December 4, 2025 13:01
This collection brings together former psychiatric hospitals and sanatoriums that carry difficult histories and reputations as places where the past seems to linger. Many of these buildings stand empty or have been converted to new purposes, but they all share a common thread: they once treated patients under conditions that were often experimental and sometimes cruel. Over the years, accounts of mistreatment, strange occurrences, and unexplained presences have drawn historians, urban explorers, and visitors curious about the darker chapters of medical history. From the northeastern United States to isolated corners of Europe, Asia, and other regions, each site tells its own story of suffering and change. The collection includes places like Willard Asylum in New York, where patients spent entire lifetimes behind its walls, and the Gothic Revival ruin of the Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island, now visible only from a distance. In Italy, the Ospedale Psichiatrico di Volterra grew from a medieval hospice into a sprawling complex, while Severalls Hospital in Essex treated patients for more than a century using methods that ranged from electroshock to lobotomy. Rockhaven Sanitarium in California offered a gentler approach for women, yet its empty cottages now evoke a sense of time standing still. Whether exploring the overgrown pathways of Letchworth Village or walking the silent corridors of Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, visitors encounter buildings that witnessed decades of human struggle and transformation.
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2.6 km
Seaview Hospital
537 m
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Britton Cottage
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Peter Houseman House
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Lake-Tysen House
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Boehm House
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Moore-McMillen House
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Third County Courthouse
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