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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Near Collins in Erie County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
 

“Taylor Tract”

 
 
“Taylor Tract” Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 17, 2014
1. “Taylor Tract” Marker
Inscription.
Collins and Gowanda Correctional Facilities occupy the ormer 1898 Homeopathic Hospital site later renamed the Gowanda Psychiatric Center.

Collins Correctional Facility — 1982
Gowanda Correctional Facility — 1994
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1898.
 
Location. 42° 29.355′ N, 78° 55.736′ W. Marker is near Collins, New York, in Erie County. Marker is on U.S. 62 south of Main Street (New York State Route 39), on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Collins NY 14034, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Gowanda Shrine Club No.1 (approx. 1.8 miles away); Gowanda Historic Site (approx. 1.8 miles away); Bell Huey UH-1H Helicopter (approx. 1.8 miles away); Colonel Thomas Jefferson Parker (approx. 1.9 miles away); Tree With Bank Account (approx. 2.6 miles away); Ahaz Allen (approx. 3 miles away); Town of Perrysburg (approx. 4.3 miles away); The First Pioneers (approx. 5.8 miles away).
 
Also see . . .  Escape to Utopia: Mental Illness, Veterans, and Gowanda State Hospital (1946–1952). LSU Digital Commons website entry:
2006 thesis by Ursula Goldsmith. Excerpt: “In 1894 the state of New York took back the title to 200 acres of that tract to construct a state hospital
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as a refuge for the ‘insane.’ The first building was completed in 1898 at what was known as Gowanda State Homeopathic Hospital. About 100 buildings have been erected since 1898. Early on, the inhabitants built tunnels under the facility so as to be able to move patients easily from building to building during the winter. Progressive Era reformers believed that mental illness was the product of environmental factors and that it was preventable. If not treated it would become progressively worse. These beliefs gave rise to the Mental Hygiene Movement. The concept of mental hospitals in the 1930s meant for patients to be separated from society usually by a court order. Patients would then become part of a new utopian society where they could escape from the larger society and be able to contribute to their care by growing victory vegetable gardens, make wicker furniture, make various folk art, and take care of farm animals, and thus to return to a simpler life of a previous period that was basically totally agrarian.” (Submitted on November 16, 2014.) 
 
“Taylor Tract” Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By J. J. Prats, October 17, 2014
2. “Taylor Tract” Marker
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on December 30, 2021. It was originally submitted on November 16, 2014, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 465 times since then and 35 times this year. Photos:   1, 2. submitted on November 16, 2014, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio.
 
Editor’s want-list for this marker. Photos of the hospital • Can you help?

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Mar. 28, 2024