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Kings Park Heritage Museum
Page 2
Living at Kings Park State Hospital
Irving Pinsley - Chief Psychiatrist
Wonderful website which features photographs, documents,
personal accounts and anecdotes regarding staff
residential life at the Kings Park State Hospital, as
seen through the lives of Irving Pinsley, the hospital's
chief psychiatrist, and his wife Rose Daniels Pinsley,
director of the hospital's children's social work unit.
Dr. and Mrs. Pinsley lived and worked at the hospital
from 1948 to 1972.
Click Here to Visit Website!
The Lost Artesian Well
Filmed and Edited By Steve Weber
Steve and Read search for the lost Artesian Well located
near Harrison Pond. At one time this well was the only
safe fresh water source for the area and once housed a
bottling plant on site for the people of Brooklyn. Still
running 24/7/356 today, the well has been contaminated
by nitrates, 10 parts per million, most likely suspects
are the lawn fertilizers used by the area residents.
This is one of the two water source which are
responsible for the water which enters Harrison Pond, a
Historical San ecosystem which all provides much needed
habitat for many of the local wild life.
The pond is now drained, due to a storm which caused the
dam to be undermined. The local residents of San Remo,
Respectfully call on their local official to see to it
that this vital resource is restored to its former
beauty before more damage is done to the treasure of San
Remo and the entire ecosystem as a whole.
Click Here to View Video
Walk Down the Trax
The Coal Trains of Kings Park
Video By Steve Weber
The video below is called "Walk Down The Trax", a
walking tour of the Old Kings Park Psychiatric Center's
Coal Train Line.
The Coal Train brought vital energy to the Kings Park
State Hospital, generating both steam and electricity
for most of the buildings of the mental health facility.
The power plant converted to Oil and Gas in the late
80's, which brought the end to these majestic trains.
Some Coal Train/Power Plant Facts:
1) Each one of the train cars held between
90-110 tons of coal.
2) The Power Plant burned about 100 ton per
day.
3) The coal would empty from the bottom of
the cars.
4) A fellow was killed one winter chipping
away the ice from one of the coal cars and
was buried by 100 ton of coal. Future winter
shipments of coal was suspended. The coal
would be stockpiled in the fall to last the
entire winter.
5) The Power Plant's Smoke Stack was lowered
in '88 when the plant was converted to gas
and oil. The smoke stack was hit by
lightning several times and was in danger of
falling. It was cheaper to lower the smoke
stack than to repair and since they were
going to use cleaner burning gas and oil,
such a high smoke stack was no longer needed
and it was decided to reduce the height.
6) Any claim that the bricks now at the
bottom of the smoke stack was from the
construction in '88 is false. One can not
imagine the state inspector signing off on
that one! The bricks which are now visible
at the base of the smoke stack are the
remains of the inner lining which is falling
into the stack from the weather and acid
damage.
7) After the Power Plant's conversion to oil
and gas, there was four burners; 2 oil and 2
gas. Each morning they would check the price
of each fuel and would run whatever was
cheapest that day. |
Excellent historical photographs of Old Kings Park Town
and KPPC. Re-discover Long Island's Lost History.
Click Here to View Video
For their contributions to this project
and never ending efforts in educating the public of our
treasured railroad history; a special thanks to:
John Volpi, Dave Flynn, Dave Keller, Richard Glueck, Tim
Darnell, Paul Stubeck, Mike Roque, Otto Vondrak, Jessica
Stallone, William Slade, Robert Emery and Arthur John
Huneke.
Kings Park Fire Dept Parade
Filmed and Edited by Stephen Weber
Kings
Park’s Bravest taking a break from fighting fires,
rescuing people from wrecked automobiles and laying
their lives on the line for their friends and neighbors;
to have a little fun at the East Northport Fair. Special
interview with Firefighter Don talking about the old
1926 fire engine.
Click Here to View Video
Paul Zunno New CD is Available Online
Solo Acoustic
Click Here Purchase
CD!
Where did Alphabet City Go?
Video by Stephen Weber
Here,
King Pedlar and Stephen Weber search for the remains of
buildings A, B, C and D of the old Kings Park
Psychiatric Center. It is suspected that the remains of
the buildings were buried within their own foundations.
As the landfill begins to settle, sink holes are
appearing and proving to be a hazard to both staff and
park goers.
Click Here to View
Video
Memorial Day 2007
Video by Stephen Weber
God
Bless American and all the Vets who have made all we
hold dear, ours. This video celebrates our Kings Park
Heritage and the people of our town.
Click Here to View Video
If It Has Wheels, I Fixed It!
Filmed and Edited by Stephen Weber
The
Model A Ford Club Crackle Barrel Run to the Kings Park
Heritage Museum. Tip: Never call a "Model A" a "Model
T", wars have been started for less. People stopped by
all day long to visit the museum and cars. Many old
timers stopped by to talk about the old times, food for
the soul. Interview with Frank Grasso.
Click Here to View Video
The
Lost Fire Watch Tower
Video by Stephen Weber
Across
from Sunken Meadow Parking Field 5, just at the top of
25a, going west after leaving Kings Park and heading
toward Northport, there was an old fire tower, which at
one time was staffed 24 hours a day to report any fires.
This tower was removed in the '50. On this video, Steve
and King search for any evidence of the tower.
Click Here to View Video
Kings Park State Hospital
Portrait of a Hospital and the Town it Created
Film by Jim Fleming
The
video below is a 1996 Documentary by Jim Fleming on the
then soon to be closing Kings Park Psychiatric Center.
This is a rare perspective which can not be duplicated
today. Featured is interviews with Greg Szurnicki, Leo
Polaski, King Pedlar and Robin Krajewski.
Greg Szurnicki (1923-2007)
Click Here to View Video
Go Alone - Dead and Dreaming
Filmed and Edited by Steve Weber
The
music video presented below is set in the Kings Park
Psychiatric Center and features the music of the band
"Dead and Dreaming" and was featured in an article in
the New York Times.
Click Here to View Video
The video
clips were captured over several years, 2002-2005 in an
effort to document the decay of the old Kings Park State
Hospital. Since this time, the neglect, vandalism and
weather has taken its toll on the buildings making the
reclamation and remediation of the buildings much more
difficult.
The Greenhouse
Video by Terry Strecher
A KPPC
Documentary by Terry Strecher about the Greenhouse which
was on the grounds of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center
and its effect on the patients and the community at
large.
Click Here to View Video
Hobart Smith - My St. Johnland Home
Video by Stephen Weber
This
documentary was put together with the help of King
Pedlar. King had a tape of this old timer talking about
his childhood at St Johnland Home. King also provided
the Museum with over 800 pictures from St Johnland, most
of them from the photos Leo Polaski collected before his
passing. Additional photographs were from The King
Pedlar Collection and Hobart Smith Himself.
I would like to have spent more time putting this
together, some of the photos could have been better
matched with what Mr. Smith was talking about, but after
about 4 hours of reviewing all 800 pictures and making
several very hard choices, I decided to show what life
at the home was like, and letting Hobart's own words
speak to his experience.
Click Here to View
Video
Streets of
Kings Park
Book by Gail Hessel
This is a fantastic book by Gail Hessel which unlocks
the history behind many of the street names of Kings
Park.
Click Here to Download Book!
Kings Park
State Hospital Reporter
Edited by Mattie O'Reilly
Published in the 1970's, the Kings Park State Hospital
Reporter is rare look into the life and times of the
people who lived and worked at the Kings Park State
Hospital.
Kings Park Historian, Folklorist...and how would one
say...teller of tall tales...Mattie O'Reilly, did a
fantastic job with this publication, presenting the
facts in a fun light hearted style. As Mattie
tells it "My Typewriter Always Had A Smile".
Click Here to
Download Newspaper!
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