NYC Farm Colony & Seaview Hospital

Founded in 1830, the Staten Island Farm Colony was once a sprawling several-hundred acre campus. Sister facility Seaview Hospital was planned and built between 1905 and 1938, and at the time was the largest and most expensive tuberculosis hospital in the United States. Together the two facilities defied obsolescence and managed to stay in operation for nearly 150 years, courtesy of a deft ability to adapt and quickly shift their mission. Eventually the outdated facilities caught up with its operators, forcing the main hospital operations to cease in the mid-1970’s. Redevelopment has sprouted up in the periphery, and a senior center still operates out of the newest buildings, however most structures have been abandoned and left to the elements. In this post we examine the history and importance of the Farm Colony, Seaview Hospital, and their various structures.

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Mid-century Legend: Hotel Okura Tokyo

Sometimes Interesting

Over the last century architectural design in Tokyo has been in a constant state of metamorphosis. A stroll through the country’s largest city confirms this; few structures in Tokyo predate 1980. Reasons for the structural turnover vary, but sanitary issues, safety concerns, staying competitive, and high cost of an earthquake-proofing retrofit are the most common. One building that survived for more than fifty years was the Hotel Okura Tokyo, built for the 1964 Olympics. It served as an important part of a revival that re-introduced Japan to the international stage. The Okura was designed by visionaries, it hosted luminaries, and proudly served dignitaries. Nearly eight hundred rooms served as a time capsule of 1960’s Japanese design and hospitality service. However in September of 2015, developers will demolish the respected original to make way for a new and improved Okura 2.0.

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Abandoned Waterworks: Hackensack Water Company

Sometimes Interesting

One hundred years ago utility companies used massive steam-powered engines to pump water throughout communities. These five-story behemoths were impressive for their time but had become obsolete decades before the end of the twentieth century. As infrastructure was upgraded, most were dismantled and sold for scrap; few managed to survive. One survivor is in the long-defunct New Milford plant of the former Hackensack Water Company in Oradell, New Jersey. The waterworks was established in 1882 and operated continuously for over one hundred years before closing in 1990. Over the last twenty-five years it has avoided several close calls with demolition. Today the plant’s future is not yet guaranteed, but the buildings still stand because of fortuitous circumstance, government indecision, and the hard work of a passionate few.

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The Psychic Temple of Long Beach

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Long Beach, California is known for its beaches and sunny weather. It has one of the world’s largest shipping ports and is a major player in domestic oil production. Douglas Aircraft chose the city to house its largest facility, and Henry Ford built Model A’s here. Astrologers and psychics established temples. The Psychic Temple became a Long Beach landmark for spiritual learning in 1905. When its founder was run out of town years later, it evolved into the American Hotel. For decades the building seemed to defy progress and barely escaped demolition. Thanks to the work of a passionate few, the hundred year-old building will have the opportunity to last another century.

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Ochamchire Abkhazia: Casualty of War

Sometimes Interesting

On the east coast of the Black Sea, about 125 miles (200km) south of Sochi, sits the shell of a once-vibrant town. Ochamchire (also Ochamchira) was once a pleasant coastal retreat in Georgia, but an ethnic war following the dissolution of the former Soviet Union resulted in the territory becoming largely abandoned. Now the city is part of the Abkhazia Republic, and less than a tenth of the city’s pre-war population remains. With entire city blocks abandoned, Ochamchire is a shell of its former self. Today many of those who stayed are trying to take care of what’s left for a population that won’t return.

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Sanatorio de Abona: Abandoned Leper Colony of Tenerife

Sometimes Interesting

The Canary Islands are well-known for their warm weather and water sports. Largest and most populous of the islands is Tenerife, which offers hiking trails, historic villages, local pubs, sandy beaches, water slides, and a national park featuring one of the world’s largest volcanoes. Yet what you won’t find on tourism flyers is one of the more interesting places to see. On the Southeast coast of Tenerife, just up the hill from a newer small village, the remains of an aborted early twentieth-century sanatorium still bask in the bright sun.

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The Glass Bank

Sometimes Interesting

It might be hard to believe the “Glass Bank” was once a visually stunning piece of architecture. Opened in 1962, the structure was entirely glass-walled before a 1980s renovation gave it a brutalist makeover. The building was penned by a famed local architect and served the city for more than four decades before hurricane damage forced the last commercial tenants to relocate in 2004. Over the next ten years disagreements between owners prevented needed repairs, and the financial crisis prevented any bailout. Only one man stood in the way of the building’s demolishment, but he couldn’t fight forever. The Glass Bank’s fate was eventually decided by the courts in 2014, and by early 2015 more than fifty years of Cocoa Beach history was demolished.

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Oklahoma’s Hidden Chalkboards of Yesteryear

Sometimes Interesting

The Emerson School dates to 1895 and is one of the first public schools built in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The classic building is already rich in history, but a recent discovery of some hidden chalkboards offers a rare view into the classrooms of one hundred years ago.

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