Kings Park Psychiatric Center - Kings Park NY Real Haunted Places

The Kings Park Psychiatric Center was established in 1885. It continued to run until 1996, when it officially closed. At the height of its establishment in 1953, it housed 9,303 patients. While the center started out as a beacon for mental healthcare, at its height, it too suffered and it turned to procedures like lobotomies and electro-shock therapy.

Eventually the need for such a large psychiatric center dwindled as modern medicine offered better treatment for the mentally ill. Even as the center closed and the buildings were left abandoned, it is said that the spirits of those who lived there remains.

Though trespassing on the Psychiatric Center's grounds is entirely illegal and the facility is now regularly patrolled by police, locals and visitors to Kings Park have still been known to sneak into some of the abandoned hospital's buildings*, leading to a large amount of vandalism and graffiti in the decaying psych center. There have also been reports of ghosts paranormal happenings within the campus. Trespasses claim to have seen apparitions, heard disembodied screams, and witnessed doors open or close on their own.

Visitors of the bar, D.S. Shanahan's, located just outside of the Kings Park Psychiatric Center's grounds, have also made similar claims. A female apparition allegedly appears at the bar from time to time, but quickly vanishes when approached. Both employees and visitors say they have seen the unidentified ghost standing in the hallway, or even sitting at the bar.

There are reports of people seeing ghost through the abandoned buildings windows, sounds of screams as well as rattling chains. Access to the property is prohibited, but that has not stopped some from breaking into the site to check out the haunted property or look from afar from the local roads and paths.

Disclaimer: New York Haunted Houses does not endorse or support trespassing to visit real haunts. Before you visit ANY local real haunt, make sure to acquire the appropriate permits and/or permissions, and be respectful of privately owned properties. Countless Haunt Hunters have been arrested, ticketed, and reprimanded by the authorities for trespassing. To avoid this, be sure to get in touch with the property owners before visiting a haunt, and respect their hours of operation, local regulations, and rules for visiting at all times. Happy haunting!