1929 Cornerstone Ward Building, Kings Park Psychiatric Center

Kings Park Psychiatric Center operated in Kings Park, New York, from 1885 until its closure in 1996, at its peak housing more than 9,000 patients across dozens of brick ward buildings on a campus of over 800 acres. Many of the structures, including this one, date to the hospital's major expansion in the 1920s, when the state built additional wards to accommodate the growing patient population under New York's "Kirkbride"-influenced institutional model. The facility relied on a self-contained infrastructure, including its own power plant, farm, and rail spur, to support the thousands of patients and staff on site. Since the hospital's closure, most of the campus buildings have sat vacant, with New York State and Kings Park Heritage Museum overseeing limited preservation and redevelopment efforts on portions of the property.

Photo taken in September 2008.