Brunswick Home

Brunswick Home was located in Amityville. It opened February 25, 1887 by founder Stephen R. Williams. Williams was also the Suffolk County Superintendent of the Poor from 1872-1880. It was called a private asylum for idiots, epileptics and feeble-minded children. Adults were added later on.

In 1931, President Benjamin Stein turned it into Brunswick Hospital which had general hospital functions, nursing home, rehab, and psychiatric facility. In 1948, the home and hospital were purchased by a group of physicians. They then purchased the Louden-Knickerbocker Hall, which was established in 1958.  The Louden Family opened Louden Hall in 1886 and Louden-Knickerbocker Hall in 1913. It was a facility for those with nervous & mental disorders, drug addicts, and alcoholics. John Louden also opened the Long Island Home in 1881, which later became part of South Oaks Hospital.

In 1940, the home burned to the ground and several patients lost their lives in the fire. The home was re-built and re-named Brunswick Hospital Center in 1960. By 2003, the campus covered 31 acres. The hospital closed in 2005 and the building was razed in 2012. It was given a New York State Historic Marker in 2017.

Sources:

“Brunswick Home.” William G. Pomeroy Foundation, 28 Mar. 2019, https://www.wgpfoundation.org/historic-markers/brunswick-home

“L. I. Hospital Merger.” New York Times, 10 Aug. 1958