ShreyaDo you believe in haunted houses? To believe in those you would first have to be a believer of supernatural elements. We have heard a lot about haunted places, graveyards, palaces, and mansions. More often than not the creeks on the floor and the weird noises in the night turn out to be nothing more than wrong wiring or a mouse. But there have been instances when the houses have been proven to have been a residence of beings who were not human. One such mystery is of this mansion. This mansion and an island located not too far from New York were abandoned for different reasons, each creepier than the other.
Abandoned North Brother Island
One place abandoned by the humans is the North Brother Island which has been a source of fascination to explorers and historians for decades now. It is a 13-acre piece of property which was abandoned in the 1960s and since then the island has been deteriorating. “North Brother Island is what will happen to the whole of our civilization when humanity is dead,” a Radiolab producer once noted. A photographer named 2e decided to visit the infamous island which is only accessible by boat and captured some disturbing and haunting photos which betray the 50 years old history of the place. What happened here?
The River That Isn’t A River
“North Brother Island is not one of those places. In fact, to date, it has hands down been the most fascinating location I’ve been to.”
The abandoned island is located in the East River of New York. But here is a fun fact: the East River is not a river. It is a saltwater body rather than fresh water. There was a time when this was the heart of the New York maritime trade, the same is not true now- the East River is not as busy as it used to be. According to 2e most of the abandoned paces turn out to be underwhelming experiences but the North Brother Island, “has hands down been the most fascinating location I’ve been to.”
The Haunted Land?
Before 1963, the North Brother Island was a rehab center for the people suffering from smallpox and typhoid- for 80 years till 1963. It was a busy place; at one point it was so crowded that the island had more than 40 buildings on it which included a church, hospital, morgue, lighthouse, dormitory accommodation, and other buildings.
The picture above is beyond eerie and the message on it is chilling. What was happening on this island that made someone write this on a wall with coal? This island is now a grave of caving walls, broken furniture, nonexistent ceilings, dusted and rusted books, windows and this is not even the beginning of this land’s decay.
Tuberculosis Pavilion Today
This is what was then known as the Tuberculosis Pavilion Wing. It was built in 1941 there but today after the island has been abandoned for 50 years now, it is just a place of broken windows with vines creeping out of unwanted places. This Tuberculosis Pavilion that once housed and saved thousands of lives now itself seems to be suffering from tuberculosis-infected by nature, which is never going to die down.
An Inside Look
The insides of the building are rotten and the coverage of destruction caused over the years gives the impression of a war zone post a bomb explosion. The wing stopped being used just four years after its construction and since then the rust and dirt have claimed the place to be theirs. A lot of tourists know about the place and even visit it but the lack of any human imprint is really surprising. They have kept their distance from making any mark on the eerie place but what happened here?
Mossy Carpet
This room in the pavilion shows how after human abandonment nature took the complete control of this place. Not only is the cemented floor covered in moss but actual roots and stems of wild plants have started growing out of it. If the room is looked at with concentration it can be seen that there is no scope of reconstruction here. And half a century ago this place was dedicated to treating suffering patients. What happened?