Location: Binghamton, NY
Status: Under preservation
The Southern Tier part of New York State is known for many historic buildings throughout the counties it resides in. Such treasures like the Pumpelly House Estate in Owego, the 1890 House in Cortland, and many more have become staples in the cities they are part of. Despite there being a mass amount of history within these buildings, they will never come close to the curiosities behind one of the most iconic buildings located in Binghamton, NY; the New York State Inebriate Asylum. Often known as the “Castle on the Hill’, this structure overlooks the south side of the city along Court St and can also be seen from across the Susquehanna River near the smaller town of Conklin. Several people throughout the years have simply passed by the castle not knowing what it once was while others have attempted to go in to no avail. What is the history behind this landmark? How were patients of the asylum treated while it was still in operation? These questions and more will be answered as we take a look behind the history of the New York State Inebriate Asylum.
The idea for the Asylum arose in the mid 1800’s when Dr. Joseph Edward Turner was learning new ways to treat alcoholism in his small medical practice in New York City. Around this time, most had seen alcoholism as just a ‘bad habit’ or ‘uncurable’ while others thought it could be treatable. With this ideology, Turner filed an application to the NY state legislature for incorporation of an inebriate asylum in 1852. Two years later the legislature grants him charter for an asylum but it would cost $100k to build and Turner would have to spend the next 4 years trying to cover half the cost. He winded up raising the money through $10 certificates, where Doctors, Ministers, or anyone who would pay him $10 to get the structure built received a certificate. If the asylum didn’t get built, the person could exchange the certificate and get their money back. Eventually, Turner was able to reach his $50,000 goal and started looking for a location to build his asylum. In the end, he looked at land in (what was then known as) the Village of Binghamton because of three factors: its connection to the railroads, it was “centrally located”, and he enjoyed the overall surroundings of the small town. The village offered Joseph 253 acres of land on the Lyon Farm to build the asylum on and construction soon started.
For this project young Architect, Issac Perry, was selected to design the building. At the time, Perry was working for an Architectual firm in NYC and was quoted by Turner as, “worked as a carpenter and stair-builder and had little experience as an architect”. Perry relocated to Binghamton and started work on his first project with the Asylum.
After the asylum opened, Issac Perry stayed in the small town and designed many structures in the area including an armory, 4 churches, and even the County Courthouse in downtown Binghamton. He later become the NYS Architect and designed 40 armories across the state and the NYS Capitol building in Albany.
The Inebriate Asylum for Alcoholics opens in 1864 as the first 15 patients were admitted to the north wing of the building despite it not being fully built at the time. All of these patients were men from downstate who struggled with alcoholism. At this point in time, women were not allowed to be admitted here.
The Asylum's founder, Dr. Joseph Edward Turner, was appointed as the first director of the sanctuary. Although he was great at his practice, many of the patients and their families did not appreciate the harsh disciplinary methods Turner used. This also worried the board of trustees within the hospital. Turner was eventually forced to resign as director in 1867 after being accused of starting a fire within the building. After that, he returned to New England and spent the rest of his life trying to get this castle he built back. Dr. Turner was soon replaced with Dr. Albert Day, who was described as being the total opposite of his predecessor as he was more laid back with everyone and more lenite than Turner ever was.
Dr. Day did a lot to promote the asylum during his time as director as more activities were being provided to patients. This included a gymnasium, a bowling alley, a Billard room, and a lot more. The inclusion of all of this entertainment was a perk for patients but soon enough started to look like a resort for wealthy downstate alcoholics rather than being an asylum to treat alcoholism. Despite all these efforts to make patients feel comfortable while getting treated, Dr. Day was forced to resign after another fire broke out in 1870.
The asylum reached its peak in 1872 as 334 patients were being treated. As the years went on, that number got lower and lower until it dropped to only 38 in 1878. A year later, the New York State Governor Lucius Robinson declared the Inebriate Asylum experiment a complete failure and recommended the facility to convert into an Asylum for the Chronic Insane.
The Interior of the Asylum, 1870’s.
The renovation began as Issac Perry came back to redesign the castle and supervise the renovation. This time, two wards were built to accommodate both male and female patients as the men’s ward was to be on the left side of the building and the women’s was to be on the right. The new Binghamton Asylum for the Chronic Insane opens in 1881 with Dr. Theodore S. Armstrong being deemed as the first Director of the new building. The first patient to be admitted to this new asylum was from the Ulster County poor farm as a few more came from around Greene and Broome County.
The recommendation to change the building revolutionized how patients got the care they needed. Not only was it a hospital, but it soon turned into a self-sufficient community as resources like greenhouses, farms, livestock, and more were available to use by everyone. As Dr. Armstrong was helping patients and tending to the resources, he kept a journal where he would log everything that was going on in the asylum from patients’ activity to anything else going on around him.
Dr. Armstrong’s Journal.
Soon after opening the Asylum for the Chronic Insane, 298 patients from other New York State asylums were admitted. The population of the castle grew and grew and eventually more buildings were needed to be built to accommodate the growing population. During this time, the asylum’s name was changed once again to the Binghamton State Hospital in 1890. The reason for the name change is unknown.
The new additions to the site made it seem like there were a little city on the top of the hill where the castle sits because of the number of new buildings being built and demolished. A Bakery, an Assembly Hall, Carpenter shop, barns, and a cemetery are some of the new additions. Every square space of the property was being used by the hospital by the 1950’s as 3,000 people were admitted by the middle of the new century.
Assembly Hall
Map of the campus, 1950’s
By the next decade, the population of patients declined massively as a new trend to de-institutionalize patients (or to get them back into society) started among hospitals and other facilities. Those who were still being treated in the former asylum were transferred to another location in the 1970’s as the castle was going to be used as an office space for staff. With this change, the name of the building was changed for the last time to the Binghamton Psych Center in 1974.
As time went on, many of the older buildings that were around campus started to fall apart and were eventually torn down. The Castle was no exception as in 1993 a portion of the façade on the south side of the building collapsed weeks after a tour was held in the building. Because of this, the castle was posed as a danger to the public and closed its doors for good.
In 1996, the Castle on the Hill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1997. Unfortunately, the building that was once an asylum has been empty and slowly deteriorating since its closure and was identified as one of New York State’s most endangered historical landmarks in 1999. Luckily, there has been efforts to preserve the building and giving it new life.
The Greater Binghamton Health Center has been doing routine maintenance around the building for years along with having security watching over the castle (I can personally say they do a great job of doing this as I was escorted off the property while taking photos of the front of the castle in March of 2019). Doing this have helped saved the castle from being a victim of “demolition by neglect”, meaning if the building was neglected long enough (let’s say since its closing 28 years ago), it would have deteriorated and no longer be saved. Several buildings around the state have faced this and were ultimately torn down after years of being abandoned.
Since its closing, there have been many offers to give new life to the former asylum. One of these offers being from a developer in Buffalo who wanted to turn the building into affordable senior housing while others were from Upstate Medical University and Binghamton University. BU started a building study in 2017 and were in the middle of doing a feasibility study until it was paused due to the 2020 pandemic.
As of January 2021, the castle doors remain shut and under close supervision with an uncertain future. No one knows how much longer the building will be taken care of, but hopefully it will be given new life soon. When it does, the pieces from the fallen façade will be put back where it was if the building gets restored again.
This has been the story behind the former New York State Inebriate Asylum.
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