Abandoned Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center Still One of the Creepiest

Closed down in 1994, this psychiatric hospital even had its own cemetery.

From 1924 until 1994, the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center on Rt. 22 in Wingdale, NY attempted to cure over 5,000 mentally ill patients. In its prime according to the website, theghostinmymachine.com, HVPC was its own self-contained community which included its own bakery, dairy farm, bowling alley, state of the art operating theatre, dental care unit along with its own morgue.

One of the creepiest aspects of this abandoned psychiatric facility was their own cemetery, called the Gate of Heaven located on the grounds where hospital patients were buried. To protect patient anonymity, the graves were marked with numbers instead of names.

According to atlasobscura.com, the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center was a pioneer in a new type of mental health therapy developed in 1927 called insulin shock therapy or insulin coma therapy. In 1941, HVPC was also a pioneer in the implementation of a new therapy called Electroconvulsive Therapy.

Most of the 80 buildings on HVPC's campus are boarded up and dilapidated on both the inside and outside. When passing the abandoned hospital while driving on Rt. 22, one can't help thinking about what kind of disturbing things might have gone on inside the walls of this psychiatric hospital in its heyday back in the 1950s.

For the last several years no one has been allowed on the premises and various signs posted on the property state that if you're caught, you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Is there paranormal activity inside these dilapidated buildings? Are there voices crying out for help in HVPC's medical and surgical buildings? The answers are based on what you choose to believe from articles on different websites like hauntedearthghostvideos.blogspot.com. Jeremy Brown of Hiddenhometown.com was given permission back in August of 2011 to document the ruins of the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center.