Building 51

Partially burned and completely abandoned, the Hudson River State Hospital for the Insane stands as a crumbling reminder of the dark, early days of the treatment of the mentally ill.

While the hospital was touted as "revolutionary," it was more of a warehouse. Shock treatment, lobotomies, and straightjackets weren't scary stories; they were the reality. For 140 years, unspeakable acts happened within the hospital's walls and wards, and it was not only the patients who committed them.

In Buil...