About Andrew Cusack
Writer, web designer, etc.; born in New York; educated in Argentina, Scotland, and South Africa; now based in London. read more
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The Haunting Richardsonian
ONE OF THE splendid things about New York is that it’s a land which continually manages to throw up a surprise or two, even to time-hardened devotées of all things knickerbocker such as yours truly. One of my most recent discoveries is the fabulously haunting and impressive Buffalo State Hospital out in the far west of the Empire State.
The magnificent building was built to the design of Henry Hobson Richardson, the progenitor of the eponymous ‘Richardsonian Romanesque’ style, as one of a series of governmental asylums for the insane founded throughout the nineteenth century. Richardson also did a great deal of work on the Capitol in Albany, designing the south façade which, since the construction of Nelson Rockefeller’s Little Brasilia, is now the main façade of the building and was inspired by the Hôtel de Ville in Paris.
Construction on the State Hospital began in 1870, and the central administration block with its two towers and a number of flanking pavilions housing patients were opened in 1880. Interestingly, the towers which so dominate the building are purely decorative and remain unfinished on the interior.
The footprint of the building follows the V-shaped Kirkbride plan, conceived by Pennsylvania’s Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride in his 1854 opus, On the Construction, Organization and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane which revolutionized care for the mentally unstable in the nineteenth century. The location was a 100-acre parcel of property near the city of Buffalo, and the grounds were landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park with Calvert Vaux.
The grounds originally included farms which helped to feed the patients and staff, but in the 1920’s this land was redeveloped as the Buffalo State College, now the University at Buffalo (State University of New York). The hospital, renamed Buffalo Psychiatric Center, moved out of the Richardsonian complex into a plain, ugly, modern building on the grounds in the 1960’s, leaving the beautiful Victorian structure to rot and ruin.
However recent efforts by Buffalo and New York state officials have led to the replacement of the roof and other work to ensure the continued integrity of the building. The latest plans would have the building serve an educational function under the auspices of the State University next door, an appropriate purpose for this majestic gem of New York architecture.
These photos of the hospital have been collected from around the web.
The building is especially haunting at night when it is flood-lit, courtesy of the regional power company, a local contractor, and the IBEW union of electrical workers.
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Andrew, at the beachclub a few weeks ago, My mother’s fellow DAR friend was there to meet you as she is a fellow knickerbocker. Things were too hectic or laid back and I forgot to mention all of this. By the way, you’ll be pleased to know that last week I was proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be of good moral character and am now a member of Colonial Dames of America. I’m a Dame and just in time to throw the first-ever bachelor-blog party for Mr. Panero. Will you be around Monday to attend it? The Card’s Wife and I are hoping Basil will provide the chorus girls. I want this to be a bachelor party that Gallahad Threepwood would have attended…
Such a brageuse…
Now is this the NSCDA or the CDA? Both have New York haunts; the National Society’s is better but the just-plain-CDA’s is older.
Dictionary.com says: “No entry found for brageuse.” Their follow up had a certain obscure logic: “Did you mean borages?” which in turn lead me to: An annual, bristly European herb (Borago officinalis) having blue or purplish star-shaped flowers.
Very cool entry, Andrew. HH Richardson is a personal favorite. A native son of New Orleans, by the way. He designed the building later used as the Civil War Museum in NOLA.
The English ‘brag’ followed by the French ‘-euse’ indicating a female active participant. A better word than braggess… but perhaps it should be braggeuse? Braggard sounds out nicely, but has a decidedly masculine ring to it.
Interesting, RP… I have always wanted to go to that museum because it is where the Crown of Thorns given to Jefferson Davis by the Pope is displayed. The Pope corresponded a number of times with the (protestant) President and actually wove the Crown himself as a token of friendship.
How about “braggarde”?
Dino! How’s it going?
I’d still stick with brageuse. The ‘-ard’ sound is hard and masculine whereas ‘-euse’ sounds smooth and feminine.
Well, my recollection is that the museum did not fare terribly well during Katrina. Hopefully I am wrong. From the museum website: “The Jefferson Davis stage includes Jefferson Davis’ evening clothes, top hat, cane, saddle, bible, and a crown of thorns given to him by Pope Pius IX. It also houses the Mardi Gras jewels and dress of his daughter, Winnie. Winnie was often referred to as the “Daughter of the Confederacy,” as she was born during the Civil War. She was a frequent visitor to New Orleans and reigned as Queen of Comus, a prominent Mardi Gras organization, in 1898.”
http://www.confederatemuseum.com/
Have anyone else heard of the significant numbers of conversions to the Faith among the Confederate leadership after the unpleasantness?
And my brother was shocked today when he learned that Catholics of the era were generally pro-Confederate while being simultaneously anti-Slavery. He is, however, a product of the public schools.
I love the fact that you think you can make up words Andrew.
Think, my dear? I’ve darn well done it.
How can they be surprised at the State of NY leaving beautiful buildings to rot and ruin? Look at what the State has done to the 7th Rgt Armory on Park Avenue in NYC.
Acrtually it is their general proceedure. They left the 14th Street Armory (9th Rgt Armory) to fall in to such disrepair that it could not be used by anyone so it was torn down even when it was the “Newest” Armory in the City. You gotta to love politicians!!
The College that is next to the Buffalo Psych center is still called Buffalo State College. The University of Buffalo is on Main St. in North Buffalo and the other half of that campus in Amherst.
to Amy: The University AT Buffalo is the alias for Buffalo State College, and The University OF Buffalo is the other college on Main Street.
to Andrew: Where did you learn that this wonderful building might be converted into an academic building??? I currently attend Buffalo State College and would be thrilled if the college added this building to it’s campus. I was researching this building and came across your site; I’ve been wondering about it and what style it was designed after ever since I first saw it my freshman year.
is the hospital really haunted? i live in buffalo and see it every now and then never heard anything about it being haunted
Buffalo State College is next to the H.H. Richard Complex, not The University at Buffalo.
Tina,
You couldn’t be more wrong. The University at Buffalo has nothing to do with Buffalo State College. The University at Buffalo is a comprehensive research University Located in Amherst, NY and on Main St. in the city of Buffalo, NY. Buffalo State College is just that, a college and has never had an alias of University at Buffalo, because it is in fact a college, not a university.