al.
This beautiful elevated site overlooking the Hudson River and the Harlem
River was admirably fitted for its purpose. The spacious tract of land,
laid out in walks and gardens, an extensive grove of trees, generous
playgrounds and ample greenhouses, combined to give the spot unusual
beauty and efficiency. This notable work finished, the Governors of the
Society issued on May 10, 1821, an "Address to the Public"[1] which
marks so great an advance in psychiatry in our country that it deserves
study. The national character of the institution was indicated in the
opening paragraph, where it announced that the Asylum would be open for
the reception of patients from any part of the United States on the
first of the following June. Accommodation for 200 patients was
provided, and to these new surroundings were removed on that day all the
mental cases then under treatment at the New York Hospital on lower
Broadway.

In this retired and ideal spot the work of Bloomingdale Hospital was
successfully prosecuted for three-quarters of a century. But the seven
miles that separated it from the old hospital was steadily built over,
and before fifty years had gone the growth of the city had passed the
asylum grounds. Foreseeing that they could not maintain that verdant
oasis intact for many years longer, the Governors, in 1868, bought this
300-acre tract on the outskirts of the Village of White Plains. After
prolonged consideration of the time and method of development of the
property, final plans were adopted in December, 1891, construction was
begun May 1, 1892, and two years later, under the direction of our
Medical Superintendent, Dr. Samuel B. Lyon, all the patients were moved
from the old to this new Bloomingdale. The cost of the new buildings was
about $1,500,000. From time to time the original Bloomingdale site was
sold and now supplies room, among other structures, for Columbia
University, Barnard College, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, St.
Luke's Hospital, the Woman's Hospital, and the National Academy of
Design. With the proceeds of those sales of the old Bloomingdale, not
only was the cost of the new Bloomingdale met, but the permanent
endowment of the Society was substantially increased, and Thomas Eddy
was proved to have been both a wise humanitarian and a far-sighted
steward of charitable funds.

In their "Address to the Public" to which I have referred, issued when
Bloomingdale Hospital was opened in 1821, the