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I'd love to see interior shots. Love your work Motts!!

these was...by far...my favorite series of photos. i'm originally from massachusetts (attempted many times to get into danvers...unsuccessfully) and have always had a great interest in abandoned homes. allowing my mind to wonder about years past...were the families inside happy? where did they go? where are they now? i often think about christmases and birthdays celebrated during better times...

this particular series makes me teary eyed.

i now live in tulsa, oklahoma and have started scoping out different areas and old neighborhoods. old shacks/homes left during the dustbowl...burned foundations of homes and businesses left behind after the huge race riot earlier in the 1900's.

old homes left behind in the once thriving brady district (once the richest area in tulsa...it is now inhabited by the truly destitute)...stairways and cement paths leading to nothing...

man. i ramble.

anyway. amazing site. absolutely.

Are these houses for sale? Purchasing this one would make a nice addition to my collection. Very interested.

hey mott just wanted to kno about sumthing if some stories were true or exaggerated ive had an obsession with the place ever since my friends went in there with a video recorder there intentions were to go drinking, smoking,and shrooming to tripp out after a while my 2 friends lisa and ashley went with the video cam(sry forgot to mention this was back in 2000)they walked into a room with a stair case against the wall they heard a little girls voice lisa turned around with the camera(now what they both saw was extremely clear and to i dont know how you would put it but it wouldnt make you think twice.The girl was telling them that they should leave because they did not belong there,they started walking away from the girl started screaming at this point telling them to leave the building when they turned around ashley started screaming back at the girl they started walking away further from the girl the girl screamed one more time loud enough to echo through whloe complex lisa turns saying alright well leave as the video camera looks upon the stairs she is no longer there(note:there was a flash light on the camera bright enough to capture anything the girl age ranged between 7-11yrs old

I my self live in the shadow of Pilgrim, and have heard numerous stories from all of LI's hospitals. I have heard of a similar story about some friends who encountered a gril in one of the wards, I believe this story took place at Kings Park though. They had entered a room, and the exit door was locked. when they turned around they encounted a gril who told them that they didn't belong there and should leave the building. this girl how ever was older, a teenager 16-18 in camo pants. she screamed at them to leave the bldg. they tried the door, and yelled back that the door was locked, once more the girl in the camo pants screamed that they didn't belong and to leave, and with this the door unlocked, as they left, the looked back and the girl in the camo pants had vanished.

yes this story took place at Pilgrim and it was in one of the old wards that had been converted into a teen narc center.

I love the shots. I have always been facinated with Pilgrim State. My mother used to tell me that there were quite a few escapes and one could see a patient wondering arround commack road. Is this true?

I've been facinated with the asylums (Ruins in general) since I was a kid. While growing up In Freeport, L.I., I had the opportunity to creep around inside the old Brooklyn Water Works (circa '75-'77) before it fell pray to arson. It was a beautiful piece of architecture and I was wondering if anyone out there has any pix of it before it was torched or while it was burning. Anyway, the shots of Pilgrim are slammin'!!! Keep up the good work. As I drive on the LIE and see those massive structures lurking in the shadows... I believe I can hear the screams in the night.

Sweet. I could so totally live there.

I went to school there between 1969 -1972. I have great memories of the place... Good school and great education. scarey at times to live there. foreboding and all. Will always remember Ma Specht, our house mother. Saddens me to see the ruins...

"Ma Specht" still teaches Nursing and comes to Pilgrim with her student nurses. I'll tell her she's remembered-fondly, I hope?

Wrong Ma Specht, Nightingale. Yours is probably her daughter-in-law. I was a nursing student at PPC before Helen and "our" Ma Specht, as well as several of her sons, have since died. Living at PPC never scared me and the school turned out many terrific RNs. Very sad to see the changes-lots of great memories.
Inside of these houses were absolutely beautiful.

I was an employee in PPC for years and yes the Dr's houses were beautiful.
The buildings that housed the patients were eerie to say the least .
I went to their Nursing School which turned out many good RN's.
It's sad to see what's left of PPC after so many years. As the buildings were being torn down I took a brick from the building I worked in.
I now live in Florida and I have met many co-workers here that are also retired like I am. I'm glad that I stayed at PPC as long as I did because now that I'm retired I live comfortably.

Hello Helen, Carmen, RN, or others who went to school or worked at Pilgrim. I'd love to contact someone who may have been there before 1960. My grandmother died at Pilgrim in that year. If you could put me in tough with anyone, I'd be grateful. egatti27@yahoo.com

ayo wat yall need to do is go 2 pilgrim state like at night and dat thing iz SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO dark and scary i went wit my sis and sum cousins but i aint go in cuz my sis didnt let me but we were maaadddd scared and right after we were like quiet cuz u kno we didnt feel right and right at dat point we almost ran over a black cat 100% true story..................................................................im goin bak

these are amazing houses and pictures. it's a shame they went to waste, i would love to go in there.

I have a client in the area and often take the "shortcut" through the old grounds. You get an indescribable feeling when driving through there. You can actually "feel" the souls of the buildings and people that use to be there.

i am a nursing student and i will be doing my psych clinical rotation at pilgrim i can't wait

I climbed my favorite tree as high as I could. "mom, what is that strange building out there?" "That's where I work ,I'ts pilgram". "N000, I mean the one with the strange roof way out there". "oh that's Edgwood, It was a TB hospital,you had to be a certain age to work there, I never went back." "well I did. Diane and I went on our bikes. I wanted to look out the top window thinking that if I was brave enough to be in that scary place in its' highest window, I'd never be afraid of anything again. As if escaping fear would solve all problems. After two steps, a glance to the left of a pitch-black windowless room with an 8" freezer-like door and a most powerful fear that could have said..."don't go in...,["just in case"],I never went back. This was 1976. If I was as brave as I was when my rode tour friends and I (T-P'd) the streets and tore up the orange groves in 79 Ca. And if I knew what I know now I would either be dead or in jail. I shda cuda wuda documented and photographed everything in site. History is here now. It's being able to recognize it in it's present purity that takes talent. It is wonderful to know there are people like me who wonder in amazment and posses a childlike curiosity to ruins, Art-Deco,scary things and the macabe. peace.

i'm so jealous u get a lot of snow out there

This is a beautiful house, but its misleading. While me and 3 other friends were wondering at night we came across a room with a little girl sitting on one of the rotted chairs staring at us, i cant think of anyway to verify this but the little girl with the camoflauge pants was screaming something about the time and how it was too late fo rus to be there, i wont be caught dead there again.

I grew up on LI, taught nursing for a short time at Pilgrim (actually administered shock therapy one day when the MD was unable to). It was one of the most beautiful and most eerie places I've ever seen. On a foggy day it was something out of a Hitchcock movie. It is a true historic landmark and it will be a real shame if it is torn down.

what biulding is this where everyone sees the same girl

I moved to Brentwood in the late 1950's. I lived across Wickes Road from Pilgrim. I knew several friends who lived there, and I went to their homes at times ( they must be pictured here ). One of my friends had a pony, and we used to take it around the grounds in a carriage. As children, we used to play on the grounds, chase the pigs, etc. I remeber one of the outer houses on the farm near the pig farm, that we thought was very haunted.

I wanted to know a little more about the Central Islip location as I work over in CI on carlton ave i the new shopping center. we have seen ghosts and have had strange things happen such as some man saying shhhhh! a girly following us in a red sweater and one girl felt someone pull her hair. Where exactly was the building for CI ? how else can I find out info.

So strange! I used to live there as a kid - in a doctors housing apartment building. We moved out in 1969. The first day of school the bus came to pick me up after having picked up all the other kids on the rout . The kids were screeming and carrying on about being taken to the nut house. After that, the bus driver picked me up first and dropped me off last.
The forest was a wonderful piece of wilderness in the middle of Long Island. Acres and acres of pine forest with thick undergrowth and little intrusion by man. I imagine it's the way central Long Island used to be when Indians roamed freely. I still have very fond memories of running on deer trails through the woods with my dog, riding my bike through the woods to get to civilization and the public Library, our neighbors hunting (and eating) rabbits with bow and arrow (and car - lol).
The building we lived in was a long, 3 story building set off all by itself from the rest of the hospital We had to drive to get to the hospital, or to visit friends in the stand alone doctors housing section. The stand alone doctors houses had very nice brick houses and I'm surprised if these are really abandoned instead of being rented out or sold to private people. Seems a waste. They sure looked and seemed solid. I remember trick or treating around there one year. Sure got a haul!

You guys dont have the rite Girl Huants Building.I want the one that they berley put on from a big church.

I am interseted on learning the history of Pilgrim. If anyone has any stories of patient abuse, ghosts stories or actual events that occured there please email me. I would be very happy to hear from employees, patients or family memebers of patients. I am writing a paper and would like to have first hand info. Thank you. reach me at hopefull_destiny@yahoo.com

Looks like someones house.

Signed: An American Soldier stationed in Germany.

I still work at Pilgrim. Bldg #1 It's still great. The new buildings are built with the same arcitecture as the old.

Check out South Oaks Hospital, Amityville,the old part.

pilgrim state, Central Islip, NY
the new home depot shopping center is totally haunted. I am a psychic median and worked in the shopping center. I get dizzy spells whenever I am there. ghosts have been seen, strange things have happened. there were always crows in the shopping center just by Dots, GNC and the dollar store that is there. I had another woman who worked there with me who also felt things and saw ghosts. we both are no longer working at that location but I still have dreams regarding the crows and the ghosts. If you are sensitive to things stop by and you will feel it.. ITS HAUNTED

Does nobody else see a light on on the top floor far right??

Yes SKN, I now see that light from the window on the right. It sure is strange because I do not remember seeing that light before. I guess I just did not pay very good attention to this photograph before. That is not like me because I usually try very hard to be observant of situations.

Signed: An American Soldier stationed in Germany.

i wish it was a light, however i think it is only solar glare.

I grew up in the neighborhood just opposite the "Edgewood Hospital Building" across Comac Road in the "60's when this place was active. This building was my view out the front door for 20 years. Talk about eerie..we used to play on the grounds of Pilgrim State Hospital and Edgewood. I was always fascinated with this place. Only once I had seen a documentary on TV with Geraldo Rivera about Pilgrim State. Remember when he used to video "Willowbrook" on Staten Island? Its cool to see this website and everyones interest in this place.

it's easy to get in, but no so easy to get out

i went to PSH from 1971 to 1974 for nursing school and it was the best 3 years of my life. you had to live there to feel the specialness of the place. i cry every time i go through the hospital grounds because it is horrible to see what time and progress has done to such a special place. i could ramble on but i don't want to bore anyone. but if anyone wants info about it you can email me at lindad51@ optonline.net. great memories!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful. Very haunting.

It's very beautiful. I read all the comments. I'm glad that so many worked there or did nursing training. You all have memories of this wonderful place and that is what it needs. To be remembered.

Bautiful old houses, lovely setting. I can almost imagine coming home from work to curl up beside a fire with a good book... almost....

I was there for a month,there were many paranormal events.Shadows crawling up walls,patients being poked,and actual EVP's.

This was the former Executive Director's Residence. It is )or was) on the Southside of G Road, east of Building 64 (The former Single Doctor's Residence/former NYSOMH Regional Office) It was used to house community based education and counseling programs on and off during the 80's up to the early and mid 90's. I was never inside. It was closed while I was working at that part of the campus between '93 and '96. However, there were two homes being utilized in "The Mansions" section just behind and South of this House. One was occupied by a 74 year old patient who had live at PPC since 1949 until 1995. The gentleman who lived there was told by the staff at PPC;..." he would never have to move and could stay for the rest of his life..." when the Business Office fo PPC forced his eviction to an outpatient housing program located in the village of Bayshore.I held up his eviction until he hesitatnly agreed to move to an apartment set up for him by Catholic Charities Case Managememnt supervisor Kate Bishop in Bayshore. That was 14 years ago and Fred, if still extant, would be about 88 now. The other home still in use in 1995 was next door to Fred's home. It was an apartment set up for in-patients to have extended family visits. They could entertain family and friends during visitation with a full kitchen and living room. It was also used to prepare patients being discharged to independent living in the community in order that they learn or relearn housekeeping and cooking skills. It was called the "Family Visiting Center" (?) I think... and the Social Worker who ran it was a woman by the name of Fran Greene. Fran married Jim Mullins, building 64 (The NYS/OMH Regional Office) Director of Quality Assurance. His office was 2 doors down form mine on the second floor of building 64.

is this the same mansion that u can barely see from the road and is really far back at the end of a path with trees on either side?

if so theres a trooper stationed there regularly. almost everytime i go parked right in front of the path

Motts you are amzing, God gave you a beutfull gift