After 1893 Long Island State Hospital (Flatbush) served the counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk.
1851 Kings County Lunatic Asylum, Flatbush, New York.
1893 Shocking Desecration Charged, Flatbush Insane Asylum.
1916 Long Island State Hospital.
New York City Map.
I’m still trying to figure out all the different “lunatic asylums” of New York City. From the beginning, New York and Kings Counties were exempted from The Willard Act. In 1893, the State of New York purchased these properties and brought them into the State Care System, the State Care Act being passed in 1890, and under the control of The State Commission in Lunacy. On July 1, 1895, the Kings County Lunatic Asylum at Flatbush AND Kings Park (re-named in 1891, formerly St. Johnland) became the Long Island State Hospital. From everything that I have read, the New York City area asylums and poor houses of the 1800s were the worst in the state, mainly because they were so over crowded.
NEW YORK CITY:
New York City is composed of five boroughs: Manhattan (New York County), The Bronx (Bronx County), Brooklyn (Kings County), Queens (Queens County), Staten Island (Richmond County). LONG ISLAND contains four counties: Kings, Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk. Apparently in today’s vernacular, “Long Island” refers to the suburban counties of Nassau and Suffolk only, in order to differentiate them from New York City even though all four counties are located on Long Island. MANHATTAN is a separate island.
Brooklyn was an independent city until January 1, 1898, when, according to the Charter of Greater New York, Brooklyn was consolidated with the other boroughs to form the modern City of New York. Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County since 1896.
As far as I know, there are no groups for these cemeteries. I have no idea where the former patients were buried.
I have created a page for each state hospital and custodial institution cemetery that I know of in the hope that some group: historical societies, former patients, concerned citizens, may be interested in forming their own cemetery restoration, beautification group in order to memorialize and honor the people buried in anonymous, unmarked graves. Of course, we need the names of these people to be released in order to memorialize them properly.
What you would need to do first is to find the forgotten cemetery, take photographs (which I would be more than happy to post), and organize your own group. You can also leave comments on this page in order to get more people involved. This isn’t something that can be accomplished in a few weeks, this will take dedication, an ongoing commitment, and lots of time.
If you would like to learn how to start your own cemetery restoration group, please visit the experts at: Danvers State Memorial Committee. This website is full of creative ideas!
1. CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIDEO They’re Buried Where? by Seth Voorhees
2. Cemetery Information at the NYS Office of Mental Health
3. New York State Hospitals, Custodial Institutions & Cemetery Projects.
4. New York State Senate Bill S840A-2015
5. HIPAA UPDATE March 2013!