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This page is a continuation of the New York State Map Exhibit with specific information about 1800 through 1850.
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Development of New York State Institutions 1800 - 1850
New York State 19th Century Almshouses
= almshouses 
= other institutions
Broome County Poor House
Located 3 miles from Binghamton 21 out of the 37 are lunatics, 11 were considered idiots and were sent to the state asylum (3 male, 8 female).
Cattaraugus County Poor House
Located in Machias.
Albany City and County Poor House
Located in the city of Albany - 4 paupers, idiots, 3 male, 1 female - two are under 16 yrs of age - 3 are blind.
Allegany County Poor House
Located 2 miles from Angelica The inmates are treated barbarously, 2 idiots, 4 males, 3 females.
Cayuga County Poor House
3 miles from the city of Auburn 9 lunatics were found here (5 male, 4 female). Three of them have been to the state lunatic asylum).
Chautauqua County House
Located in Dewittville, New York 10 paupers are idiotic (all male) one is blind.
Chemung County Poor House
Located in Horseheads New York. Three of the paupers are idiots (2 male, 1 female).
Chenango County Poor House
Located in Preston, New York 7 of the paupers are idiots and two of them are under 20 years of age.
Clinton County House
The house is located four miles from Plattsburg. There are ten idiots, eight male and two female. One is blind
Columbia County House
Located in Ghent New York The sexes are kept separate, and all are under the care of one keeper, who is in charge of the house. Of the inmates 35 are lunatics (15 male, 20 female).
Cortland County Poor House
Located two miles from the village of Homer Of the inmates 10 are lunatics (5 male, 5 female), 9 are paupers.
Delaware County House
Located 2 miles south of Delhi Village New York. 8 of the paupers are idiots (5 male, 3 female) there is one deaf/blind person.
Dutchess County House
Located in Poughkeepsie New York Five of the inmates are idiots, (2 male, 3 female). There are four blind inmates.
Erie County Home
Located within the city of Buffalo. In the poor house are 11 idiots, 4 male, 7 female (three are under 16 years of age)
Essex County
Located between Essex County and Elizabethtown – Three paupers are idiots (all female over 21), two are blind.
Franklin County House
Located two miles from the village of Malone Two of the paupers are blind, 4 are idiots, (2 male, 2 female).
Fulton County House
Located in the Town of Johnstown
Genesee County Poor House
Located in the town of Bethany Of the paupers there are 10 idiots, 4 male, 6 female (one is blind).
Greene County House
Located in Cairo. Nine are idiots (5 male, 4 female), none are children. There are 2 blind and one deaf and dumb.
Herkimer County House
Located in Herkimer New York The number of inmates was 76 (50 male, 26 female). Of these half are foreign born and 11 are under 16 years of age.
Jefferson County House
Located near Watertown, Of the paupers, 8 are idiots (2 male, 6 female). There are two deaf and dumb, one blind.
Jones Institute
Located in the town of Oyster Bay, Queens County, it is designed for accommodation of only the poor that come from the neighboring towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead. In the house there are four idiots (one male, three female); and three who are blind.
Kings County Poor House
just outside the city of Brooklyn. The house is on 70 acres of land. There are 1,365 inmates (Almshouse – 380, nursery – 350, hospital – 430, lunatic asylum – 205).
Lewis County House
Located in Lowville New York The number of lunatics is four (2 male, 2 female). In the house there is one idiot, a female, and 22 yrs old, one blind, and one deaf and dumb.
Livingston County House
Located in Geneseo 14 of the inmates are lunatics (5 male, 9 female).
Madison County Poor House
Located in Eaton New York 7 of the paupers are idiots (4 male, 3 female), four of these are under 15 years of age
Monroe County Poor House
Located near Rochester, N.Y., Among the paupers are five blind, and two deaf and dumb persons. 8 paupers are idiots (4 male, 4 female)
Montgomery County House
Located in Glen New York 5 of the paupers are idiots, 2 male, 3 female.
Niagara County Poor House
Located in Lockport New York Four of the inmates are idiots (all male), and two boys who are 12, are 16 and they are blind. The house is well kept, and as the results prove, it is possible to maintain a good house at less cost, than it is to provide for a poor one.
Oneida County Poor House
It is located near Rome, New York. The building has been occupied since 1829. It is on 115 acres of land. There are four blind (2 male, 2 female), 3 idiots, 31 of the inmates are lunatics, (20 male, 11 female), and for their accommodation an asylum has been erected.
Onondaga County Poor House
It is located on Pompeii Hill four miles from Syracuse. The number of lunatics was 16(8 male, 8 female), all are paupers. One pauper is an idiot, a male, there is one deaf and dumb, and five are blind (of all ages).
Ontario County Poor House
Located in the vicinity of Canandaigua, There are five idiots (1 male, 4 female), two are deaf and dumb, and one is blind.
Orange County Poorhouses
Located in Newburgh New York Two paupers are idiots, both male; one is blind.
Orleans County Poor House
Albion New York There are two idiots, both female, and one deaf and dumb.
Oswego County Poor House
Located in the town of Mexico, Four of the inmates are idiots (three male, one female), all over 21 years of age.
Otsego County Poor House
Located near Cooperstown, Five of the inmates are idiots, (two male, three female).
Putnam County Poor House
Located in Kent New York Two of the inmates are idiots, both female, there is one mute.
Rensselaer County Poor House
Situated a short distance from the city of Troy, Lunatics are kept in filthy cells, but the committee could get little information on how the patient was, except to see the patient through a small hole in the door. The keeper told the committee that the occupant was a woman, naked, filthy and unsafe. Upon return, the committee found a woman, who was very much composed of reason, with clean attire and with good expression. Among the inmates were 30 lunatics, 4 male, 26 female, all paupers. Application for these paupers was made to the Utica asylum; but was refused due to lack of room.
Richmond County House
Staten Island One pauper is an idiot, The whole aspect of the house indicates negligence on the part of all those who run it. No effort is made to make the house comfortable for those living in it.
Rockland County House
Located in Suffern New York. Of the inmates, six are lunatics, (four female, two male); three are paupers, the others pay for their support. Eight of the inmates are idiots, (five male, three female); one is deaf and dumb.
St. Lawrence County Poor House
Located near Canton, There is one idiot, twenty-four years old.
Saratoga County House
Located in Ballston Spa New York Of the inmates, ten are lunatics, (three male, seven female); they receive no special medical attention. Five are confined to their cell at all times, sometimes they are restrained with handcuffs or shackles. Corporal punishment is used on men, women, and children.
Eleven of the inmates are idiots, (six female, five male); all are over ten years of age. The keeper reports that come have sheen cured or improved. There are three blind, 137 are paupers,
Schenectady County Poor House
Located just east of Schenectady City Of the inmates, three are lunatics, (one male, two female). Seven of the inmates are idiots; 3 male, 4 female, one boy is under 16 years of age.
Schoharie County Poor House
Located in Middleburgh, Of the inmates there are two lunatics, both female. Ten of the inmates are idiots, (two female, eight male);
Schuyler County
Town of Hector. No information is available on this house.
Seneca County Poor House
Located five miles from Waterloo, No application has been made to either the State lunatic or Idiot asylum during the past year. Three of the inmates are idiots, all male, the youngest is eighteen.
Steuben County Poor House
Located in Bath, Of the inmates, thirty-seven are lunatics, (twenty female, fifteen male); four have been received during the past year. The only method of restraining the insane is to lock them up in their cells. There is one male idiot. vTioga County Poor House Located near Owego, Provision is made for a physician who charges for his services. Of the inmates, six are lunatics (all female). The apartments devoted to the insane are in very bad condition, and one woman was found in her own filth and dirt. **The only good point to be found here is that a new building is being erected to house these people.
Tompkins County Poor House
Located six miles from Ithaca, There are seven lunatics, (five female, two male); one was admitted during the past year. Two of the paupers are idiots (one male, one female). There are 21 lunatics, 6 male, 15 female, all paupers. Five of these have been to the Utica Asylum, and they were returned uncured. Application has also been made for the others to the Utica Asylum, but these applications were refused.
Ulster County House
Located in Kingston New York In the house are 12 idiots, 4 male, 8 female. Two of the females are under 16 years of age. At the time of this survey, the paupers suffered from smallpox. Of the inmates, 15 are lunatics, 3 male, 12 female (5 have been admitted during the last year). The lunatics receive no special medical care, but they do have a male attendant.
Warren County Poor House
Located in the Town of Bolton New York. There is one idiot, a 14 year old boy. Of the inmates 3 are lunatics, 2 male, and 1 female. Three have been admitted during the past year. The lunatics have no attendants and receive no special medical care.
Washington County Poor House
Located in Town of Argyle, Three of the inmates are idiots, two male, and one female.
Wayne County Poor House
Located near Lyons
Westchester County Poor House
First located in Mt. Pleasant in 1828 and then in nearby Eastview New York by 1900. 11 of the inmates are idiots, 5 male, 6 female. There are 2 deaf and dumb, 3 are blind.
Wyoming County Poor House
Varysburg, New York Consists of an old farm house,
Yates County Poorhouse
Located in the town of Jerusalem, Five of the inmates are lunatics; two male, three female (none of whom have been sent to the State Lunatic Asylum). The lunatics receive no special medical attention and have no special attendants. None of the lunatics have been cured or improved and one is kept constantly in a cell. The means of restraint is to place one in irons and to lock a person in their cell; one was found frozen. The number of idiots was seven; three male, four female. Four were blind.
Bloomingdale Asylum
1821 Bloomingdale Asylum Opened First known as New York Lunatic Asylum, which was an extension of the New York Hospital, later moved to White Plains NY (1894)
New York State Lunatic Asylum Utica
1843: New York State Lunatic Asylum opens in Utica New York
Amariah Brigham
1846: - Amariah Brigham New - York State Lunatic Asylum, Utica, November 30th, 1845. from the 3rd annual report of The Utica Asylum advocating a separate institution for idiots. By the term Idiot, we mean to designate a person in whom the mental faculties have been wanting from birth, or have not been manifested at the usual period, owing to an original defect or to disease of the brain in very early life. The same persons are sometimes denominated imbeciles. From each enumeration of the inhabitants of this State, we learn that the number of idiots is very great. By the census of
1825, there were 1421
1835, there were 1684
1845, there were 1610
We have already stated our opinion that some demented insane persons are classed with the idiots in the census; still we believe the actual number of the latter is very great. What is their present condition? Where and how are they kept? We fear that full and correct answers to these questions would reveal a mass of wretchedness and misery wholly unexpected to the people of the State.
St. Mary's School for the Deaf
1859: St. Mary's School for the Deaf, Buffalo NY Erie County, St. Mary's School for the Deaf was established to aid and instruct the deaf. Instruction began in 1859 with "four girls and a few boys" who were taught to utilize sign language, finger spelling, and speech.
Willard
1865 Willard Law passed by NYS legislature, The Willard Asylum for the Insane will open in 1869 near Ovid, New York, Seneca County
Willard
1866: The Batavia State School for the Blind was built in 1866. Batavia, New York, Genesee County. Originally intended to serve blind Civil War veterans, the school evolved to provide instruction for blind school-age children.
Chemung County
1876: The New York State Reformatory opens in Elmira, Chemung County, NY. Zebulon R. Brockway, Superintendent
Amityville Long Island
1887: The Brunswick Home in Amityville Long Island, New York was a private sanitarium, and included a school for the training of mentally defective, nervous and backward children.