Inside the eerie dilapidated hospital on New York's abandoned North Brother Island: Haunting pictures show the rooms where America's infamous 'Typhoid Mary' was forced to live in isolation for 30 years

Typhoid Mary, was the first person in the United States identified as a carrier of the pathogen associated with typhoid fever

She was presumed to have infected some 51 people, three of whom died

Forced to live in isolation on an island in the East River by public health authorities she died alone



New pictures more than 100 years later capture the nature of the facility where she was quarantined








Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary, seemed to be a healthy young woman when a health inspector knocked on her door in 1907, yet she was the cause of several typhoid outbreaks in New York City.

Mary was the first 'healthy carrier' of typhoid fever in the United States.

It all began in the summer of 1906, when New York banker Charles Henry Warren took his family on vacation.

The Warrens hired Marry Mallon to be their cook. Soon afterwards, one of the Warren's daughters became ill with typhoid fever.

Then, Mrs Warren and two maids became ill; followed by the gardener and another of the Warrens' daughter's.

In total, six of the eleven people in the house came down with typhoid.

Legendary: Known as 'Typhoid Mary', Mary Mallon was the first person identified as a carrier of typhoid bacilli in the United States. Herself immune to the disease, she spread typhoid while working as a cook in the New York City area

Main staircase: Nurses' Building. One of the oldest buildings on campus, this is where "Typhoid" Mary Mallon was known to socialize during her later years on the island

Dormitory: It was thought that an abundance of sunlight and fresh air would aid in recovery from pulmonary tuberculosis; this theory was never tested at North Brother Island, where the TB pavilion was left derelict Beauty: Main street during summer. This was the main thoroughfare for the island's automobiles during its years of operation; now, the road is covered with dirt and vines Western street: This street led to the morgue (pictured right) and physical plant (pictured left) on the island, as well as to the chapel, which collapsed many years ago Boilers: Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island had a complete physical plant which supplied all steam heat and electricity for the island

ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHER, IAN FERENCE: A FASCINATION WITH FORGOTTEN AND ABANDONED PLACES...

Ian Ference has made 17 trips out to Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island in the East River, beginning in 2008.

His fascination with forgotten abandoned places led him to become fascinated with the island some 5 years prior, and he spent that time making the connections necessary to make the trips happen.

He now boasts a collection of over 5,000 photos taken out on the island.

A curated selection of these images is available in print at http://ianference.smugmug.com/Architecture/North-Brother-Island.

Additionally, Ference has published a widely read history of the island on his blog ,



Mary could not understand how someone who was not sick could spread the disease, so she went on the run.

Eventually she was captured and forced to live in isolation upon North Brother Island, a particularly treacherous stretch in New York's East River.

Mary Mallon was taken by force and against her will and was held without a trial. She had not broken any laws, yet the government locked her up in isolation indefinitely.

Riverside Hospital, was the name of the facility on the island where she was kept. It treated everything from smallpox and leprosy to venereal disease and heroin addiction.

The island has been abandoned since 1963, but more than a dozen buildings remain, in various states of disrepair.

Typhoid Mary was presumed to have infected some 51 people, three of whom died, over the course of her career as a cook.

She died after a total of nearly three decades in isolation.

Auditorium, School and Services Building: Last used as part of a public school that was a part of a failed drug rehab program on the island, this auditorium was abandoned half a century ago, in 1963

Western staircase in winter, Tuberculosis Pavilion: Broken out windows on each landing let snow into the building

Gantry crane: This is where the ferry from the Port Morris terminal would dock once or twice a day, to bring people and supplies to the island, and people and bodies away

Nurses' Building in winter: One of the oldest remaining structures on the island, the Nurses' Building is in rough shape; several floors and portions of floors are inaccessible to those unwilling to jump across voids in the floors

Cast iron staircase: One of the more unique and surprising architectural features on the island, this cast iron staircase linked the three contiguous floors on the Southern (oldest) portion of the Nurses' Building

Mary Mallon did not understand a lot about typhoid fever and, unfortunately, no one tried to explain it to her.

Though commonly known at the time that typhoid could be spread by water or food products, people who are infected by the typhoid bacteria could also pass the disease from their infected stool onto food via unwashed hands.

For this reason, infected persons who were cooks, like Mallon, were the likeliest to spread the disease.

In February of 1910, a new health commissioner decided that Mallon could go free as long as she agreed never to work as a cook again.

Mallon accepted the conditions and agreed that she would take hygienic precautions to protect those with whom she comes in contact with from infection.

However, she was unable to find work that was as well paid as a chef and Mallon eventually went back to working as a cook.

Five years later, in January 1915, the Sloane Maternity Hospital in Manhattan suffered a typhoid fever outbreak. Twenty-five people became ill and two of them died.

Bedroom, Doctors' Cottage: Tthe Doctors' Cottage is among the oldest buildings on North Brother Island, and potentially hazardous to the health of anybody who decides to climb about in it

Key to the past: Oxidized copper keys and chemical stalagmites on windowsill, Maintenance Building. Because it is so hard to reach North Brother Island without the permission of the NYC Parks Department, many artifacts remain in situ

Operating room, Tuberculosis Pavilion: The newest building on the island, the TB pavilion was built to feature medical facilities that were state-of-the-art in 1939; the island was then abandoned for the first time, and it was never used

Corridor, Tuberculosis Pavilion: The most recently constructed structure on the island, the TB pavilion is in wonderful shape - there's barely any significant structural damage

Bathroom, Doctors' Cottage: The entire southern wall of this bathroom has collapsed, leading to wonderful lighting in the bathroom

An investigation found that a recently-hired cook, Mrs. Brown, might be to blame. It was, of course, Mary Mallon, using a pseudonym.

There was little public sympathy for Mary Mallon because she knew at this time she was a healthy 'carrier' of the virus.

It was suggested that she willingly and knowingly caused pain and death to her victims

Using a pseudonym made even more people feel that Typhoid Mary knew she was guilty.

She was sent to North Brother Island for a second time to live in the same isolated cottage.

For a further 23 years, Mary Mallon remained imprisoned on the island.

Tuberculosis Pavilion: With a combination of WPA grants and NYC money, a new, state-of-the-art facility for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis was built on North Brother Island

Morgue: This room served as the morgue for Riverside Hospital, in the building that 'Typhoid' Mary Mallon trained to be a pathological assistant in, and where upon her death an autopsy confirmed that she had live typhoid cultures in her gall bladder Wraparound porch, Nurses' Building: The porch in the rear courtyard of the Nurses' Building demonstrates the diverse architectural modalities of the building, which was constructed in stages over more than a decade Gymnasium, School and Services Building: When Riverside Hospital was repurposed from a quarantine hospital to a drug rehab, a school was hastily constructed out of the old Services Building Corridor, School and Services Building: When the primary purpose of Riverside Hospital became as a detention facility for juvenile drug offenders, the Services Building was re-purposed as a school

The entire island is a captivating place for photographers like Ian Ference.

He has made 17 trips out to Riverside Hospital since in 2008.



Ian admits he has a fascination with forgotten and abandoned places and has now taken 5,000 photos on the island.

'It is a singular experience stepping off a boat onto the shores of North Brother Island - almost like stepping half a century back into time.



And this makes sense, because the island was fully abandoned in 1963. I cannot, in my photography or in my historic research, begin to describe the smells of the various parts of the island or the feeling of walking into the room where 'Typhoid' Mary Mallon first trained as a pathologist and ultimately was autopsied in.



I cannot explain what it's like to feel the adrenaline rush as I edge along the roof of the Nurses' Building to reach a room that no stairs connect to any longer to get a photo, or the frustration at being unable to penetrate the one room in the Tuberculosis Pavilion where the lock has rusted shut, virtually wiping the room off the grid.'