The Abandoned JN Adam Memorial Hospital has always been a favourite spot of mine. I had explored it twice already & was excited to take Zenning with Zay to check it out! I was shocked at how much had changed from my last visit. We also met up with our friends Freaktography & Motley Kiwi!
In the early 1900s, Dr. John H. Pryor of Buffalo suggested the construction of a hospital for in-patient tuberculosis (TB) treatment in New York. On March 25, 1909, the New York Legislature passed a bill authorizing the city of Buffalo to build, equip, and run such a hospital. After an extensive search for a proper setting, the Buffalo City Council selected the hillside location in Perrysburg where J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital now stands. The hospital is named after Mayor James Nobel Adam who purchased the 293-acre site and donated it to the city. At the time of purchase, there was only one small building on the property called "Tipperary", the original sanitarium.
Tipperary was established in a shack in 1903, and Bula M. Lincoln, the first patient, was the niece of the superintendent of the nearby Tomas Indian School. The closest TB treatment center was in Ray Brook, now Gowanda, New York, which was quite far from the Indian School. With the success of the fresh-air cure at Tipperary, Dr. Pryor's friend, Mayor Adam, realized the need for a TB institution close to Buffalo. The Perrysburg site was selected for its pure lake breezes and the cures occurring at Tipperary.
Construction of the hospital began with a $160,000 contract issued on October 13, 1910. Upon completion of the original buildings, the total cost was slightly over $300,000. J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital formally opened on November 12, 1912, with a capacity of 140 patients. It had two wings, a fully modernized kitchen, and a resplendent dining room. Over the years, further construction added extensions on each wing and numerous additional buildings, increasing the capacity to nearly 420 beds.
Mayor Adam bought and donated the beautiful circular dome window from the Temple of Music Auditorium at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo for the enhancement of the dining room. This room, with its perfect acoustics and lighting, was just one of the rooms built to allow sunshine to cure patients' TB.
Heat for the buildings was provided by a steam system, and a new power plant was built in 1923, which served the facility until 1960 when new boilers were installed, and gas replaced coal as the main fuel. Water supply was always abundant, with a one-million-gallon reservoir built in 1923-1924, bringing the total capacity to 1.5 million gallons. Ten working wells on the grounds could produce twice as much water as the hospital could use.
J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital served as a TB treatment center from 1912 to 1960, owned and operated by the City of Buffalo for its first 36 years. It had only two directors, Dr. Clarence Hyde, and his former assistant, Dr. Horace LoGrasso. In 1948, the hospital was turned over to the state and became one of the seven state-operated tuberculosis centers, continuing in this capacity until June 1960 when it closed down. It reopened in September of the same year as a state mental hygiene facility, functioning as part of Gowanda State Hospital until 1962 when it became a division of West Seneca State School.
In 1972, J.N. Adam Memorial Hospital became an independent facility in the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, operating under the title J.N. Adam Developmental Center. in 2005 a logging company lost a bid to use the land. The "Friends of J. N. Adam Historic Landmark and Forest" made attempts to preserve it but it was too little, too late. Today the building is terrible condition but still interesting to explore!
This was my third visit here & I still loved exploring the Abandoned JN Adam Memorial Hospital!
I still want to sign picture of you all you RiddimRyder Photography Zane Freaktography and Carlos Paolozza