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47. Pig Pens
Built 1941
Photograph - Long Island Oddities
These pictures were taken sometime between 1994 and 1996, the building was torn
down a few moths later
Photograph - Long Island Oddities
I remember once there was a guy who worked for the hospital
(can't give his name). Went to the Roundtable (Shanahan's) and told Tommy Walsh
(the owner) to come outside and see his date. It was one of the sows from the
piggery sitting in his back seat. Quite a mess I must say. His wife was really
pissed at him. ruined the car.
- Gill Harris
The state hospital at Kings Park had a very
large farm that provided many opportunities for interesting occurrences to a
wanderer such as myself. A regular visitor, I have a large cache of memories
from the place. They had a large pig farm which I enjoyed visiting. While the
smell was not so great, wandering through the building which held the sows and
baby pigs was always fun. When I would find a sow that didn’t seem to mind, I
would pick up and play with the baby pigs.
It has always amazed me how hard and solid their bodies are. In the dairy
section was a large pen with a very large and aggressive bull in it. Many times
when there were several of us there together with no adults around, we would
take turns climbing into the pen and daring the bull to chase us. I think in
this venture we all opted for discretion over valor, because while I remember
some lightening trips back over the fence, I don’t remember and perilously close
calls. The bull was pretty enthusiastic in his charges and I imagine we provided
a welcome diversion to his otherwise boring existence. There was one other event
we knew of that he certainly seemed to get excited about. Several times we were
there and got to observe the goings on during breeding. We would sit around near
the breeding stall and hoot and holler our encouragements to him as we watched
the proceedings.
There was a horse barn and a large hayloft that I would often visit. Many times
there were inmate workers around and I would sometimes visit with them as they
went about their chores. Sometimes their conversations made sense, sometimes
they didn’t, but they always seemed to enjoy my company. I’m sure the nurse back
at St. Johnland would have found this associating with the inmates right in line
with her image of me.
- Ronald Mallory
Photograph - Long Island Oddities
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