Buffalo State Hospital Annex, Wilson NY
Posted October 11, 2012 at 7:00 pm
By Dr. James M. Boles and Melissa Royer, Contributors
In 1908, the Buffalo Psychiatric Hospital opened the Lakeside Colony on property rented from the L.A. Dwight family in Wilson, NY. The Colony operated for a little over 4 years and consisted of thirty-three acres, a stone house and farm buildings in the Roosevelt Beach area of Wilson NY. With frontage on both Lake Ontario and Twelve Mile Creek, the Wilson farm provided the patients from Buffalo State Hospital recreation in the form of swimming, fishing, gardening, farming and outings to the nearby small village of Wilson, NY.
It was reported in the 22nd Annual Report to the State Commission in Lunacy, 1909-1910, that 44 patients were housed at the Colony. Also in this year, the farm produced crops valued at $733.98, much of which was sent to the main Buffalo Hospital for use.
In 1909 the farm was open the whole year to ease overcrowding at the Buffalo Hospital and 77 men and 74 women were housed at the Colony.
The hospital sent some of its convalescent patients to the Wilson farm for two weeks at a time during summer months, where they would stay in the old stone house. It was believed that escaping from Buffalo to the fresh country air afforded great benefit, “giving a place where the eye is not stopped in its outward look by the grim walls of factories, or in its upward search by the smoke of a great city.” The convalescent patients were able to “do as they like and the fresh air and liberty do them more good than anything else could…the percentage of cures among these patients has been most gratifying and the evident of all very marked.” It was considered a successful experiment.
Mentioned in the 40th Annual Report of the Buffalo State Hospital reports was the high number of patients who found permanent employment in the nearby fruit farms. Also in this report, it was suggested that the farm not be purchased because the area was growing and it no longer would be a quiet retreat.
The State Hospital tried for years to get permission from NY State to purchase the property for $6500 but it was never approved. In 1913, the farm was sold to a private owner and the Buffalo State Hospital Annex in Wilson, NY closed.
References:
- State of New York, State Commission in Lunacy, 22nd Annual Report, 10/1/1909 – 9/30/1910
- 14th Annual Report of the Buffalo State Hospital to the State Commission in Lunacy, year ending 9/30/1910.
- Public Papers of Charles E. Hughes, Governor 1910
- Dept. of Commerce and Labor Bureau of the Census, Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910.
- Tonawanda Evening News, North Tonawanda, Friday April, 8, 1910
Thank you to the Niagara County, NY Historical Society and Asst. Director, Ann Marie Linnabery.
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