Jumping back to August – the very last stop of our New England road trip* was Kings Park Psychiatric Center, an abandoned hospital complex which closed its doors back in 1996. My big stop of the trip was Dead Horse Bay, and this was Jeff’s. I hadn’t done any research on the area, and was generally pretty pessimistic about it. There was no way we’d be able to get in, I thought. With so many huge abandoned buildings in one place it has to be teeming with police, right? It was only fair we went though and no matter what it’s always fun to see the outside of these places.
I did a tiny bit of research right before we got there and gathered that maybe, just maybe, this would actually be possible to explore. I’m obviously not promoting trespassing, because it’s dangerous you guys, seriously, but let’s just say this was probably one of the easiest spots we’ve ever gotten. I couldn’t believe it.
It felt too easy though. We went in one of the largest buildings on the property, a patient ward built in 1939. My legs shook the whole time. I just couldn’t calm down. Maybe it’s because I’m out of practice or maybe it was the spirits that haunt this place. You know I’m joking, right!? We haven’t been doing much of this lately but I just had a bad feeling I couldn’t shake. Jeff could tell I was unnerved and said it was more than okay if we finished up after a few shots.
We made our way back to the car, cooled down in the air, and drove around the rest of the property scoping everything out. Jeff spotted a second building he wanted to explore. After how nervous I was in the first I was thiiiis close to offering to drop him off and just sit in the car while he did his thing. I knew I’d regret it though so I put on a brave face. I was cool as a cucumber inside the second building. This is only my second hospital (see number one here!) so they’re still very very exciting to me, unlike factory buildings.
peeking out a window where I was able to recognize a structure I spotted
near the entrance when we originally went in. After looking for it a
bit more we realized we were on the wrong floor the whole time. Whoops! Five more minutes and we were outside at last.
I don’t think there could have been a more perfect way to end this trip. The drive home was extremely boring, I-80 might be the most boring road ever, but we talked about the hospital nearly the whole way back. The amount of history in these places hold is incredible. I’ve spent so much time since our visit there researching KPPC and I just keep finding new things that intrigue me. This hospital, despite clearly being a very well visited spot which would normally knock a spot down a few pegs for me, just might be one of my favorites!
xoxo
*For more posts about my visit to New England check out these posts; On the cutting room floor – road trip edition, Old Bennington Cemetery, Acadia National Park, Pemaquid Point, Giant’s Stairs, Maple Grove Cemetery, Granary Burying Ground + Dead Horse Bay.