The Old Hospital Grounds at Kings Park Still Draw Memories
Kings Park State Hospital sat on about 100 acres above the Long Island Sound, and for close to a century it was one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in New York State. It first took in patients in the 1880s and by the mid 1900s housed thousands of people at once, cared for by a large staff who lived and worked right in the surrounding community.
A recent piece in the Northport Journal shares one family's memory of visiting a relative committed there decades ago, a reminder of how much personal history is tied up in that stretch of Kings Park. The hospital closed its doors long ago, but its buildings and grounds are still part of the landscape people pass every day, now folded into the state park and preserve that sits above the water.
It is one of those places where the past and the present sit close together, which is part of what makes Kings Park worth walking through slowly. Curious how this corner of Smithtown compares to others nearby? The town guide at /towns/ is a good place to start.