Скачать или смотреть Abandoned Letchworth Village: Abandoned, Roadside and Historic

Abandoned Letchworth Village: Abandoned, Roadside and Historic

Letchworth Village was a residential institution located in Rockland County, New York, built for the physically and mentally disabled of all ages, from the newborn to the elderly. Opened in 1911, Letchworth Village at its peak consisted of over 130 buildings spread out over many acres of land. It was named for William Pryor Letchworth, who espoused reform in the treatment and care of the insane, epileptics, and poor children.

Reports of inadequate funding and improper care of the residents, including children, were present dating back to the 1920s. Accounts surfaced of residents being found unclothed, unbathed, and neglected. In addition to rampant abuse among the institution's residents, staff also suffered abuse at the hands of co-workers, which included incidents of rape. The institution gained national attention in 1972 from an expose by Geraldo Rivera.

In 1996 the institution was permanently closed down, and many of its abandoned structures have since fallen into serious disrepair.

By the end of 1911, the first phase of construction had completed on the 2,362-acre "state institution for the segregation of the epileptic and feeble-minded.” With architecture modeled after Monticello, the picturesque community was lauded as a model institution for the treatment of the developmentally disabled, a humane alternative to high-rise asylums, having been founded on several guiding principles that were revolutionary at the time. Separate living and training facilities for children, able-bodied adults, and the infirm were not to exceed two stories or house over 70 inmates. Until the 1960s, the able-bodied labored on communal farms, raising enough food and livestock to feed the entire population.

It was conceived by the progressives of the time as a major departure from the almshouses of the 19th century.

In February of 1950, while Letchworth still enjoyed a good reputation amongst health professionals, despite rumors of overcrowding and maltreatment, Letchworth's Dr. George Jervis asked Dr. Hilary Koprowski to test his live-virus polio vaccine at Letchworth Village to compare it to the then-available alternatives. Dr. Koprowski had tested the oral vaccine on himself and a laboratory assistant two years earlier. At Letchworth Village, he gave a dose to 20 child patients. It was here that children were used to test the polio vaccine, the first human trials in the world. In other experiments, as reported, “Brain specimens were harvested from deceased residents and stored in jars of formaldehyde, put on display in the hospital lab. This horrific practice has become a favorite anecdote of ghost-hunters and adolescent explorers.” Many of the people who died here were buried in a Potter’s Field, with no names to identify them, though later a monument was erected “To those that shall not be forgotten.”


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