Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane T-Shirt

The Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane was built in 1892 in what is now known as Beacon. It was built specifically to house violent criminals who were deemed too insane for the regular penitentiary system.

The prison population in the facility included serial killer Lizzie Halliday, who proceeded to murder one of the security officers, as well as Manhattan social climber Harry Thaw, a railroad baron’s son who murdered famed gilded age architect Stamford White.

The hospital was ultimately closed on January 1, 1977. The site was later renovated and turned into what is now Fishkill Correctional Facility, straddling the cities of Fishkill and Beacon.