Hailey Tran
While the hospital in Shutter Island is fictional, it is inspired by the history of the Boston Harbor Islands. The novel's author, Dennis Lehane, based the setting on the hospital and grounds on Long Island in Boston Harbor, which he had visited as a child. The film adaptation, directed by Martin Scorsese, was partly filmed on Peddocks Island, which has been described as the perfect spooky setting for the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. However, the Medfield State Hospital, a former psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts, was also used as a filming location for the hospital depicted in the film.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the hospital | Long Island Hospital |
| Location | Boston Harbor |
| Year of establishment | 1892 |
| Year of renaming | 1914 |
| Year of closure | 2003 |
| Treatment offered | psychiatric treatment |
| Forms of mistreatment | poisoning patients with strychnine, neglecting patients in need of medical assistance, providing insufficient or unacceptable food |
| Other issues | employee drunkenness, self-dealing, corruption |
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What You'll Learn
Boston Harbor Islands' history inspired the novel
The Boston Harbor Islands have a long history of institutions and social services. One such example is Rainsford Island, which was known as "Hospital Island" for over 150 years. The Town of Boston first opened quarantine stations on Rainsford Island around 1737. In the 1880s, stone cutting was introduced on the island, and death rates increased. By the 1880s, the island was facing overcrowding, and in 1889, the City of Boston transferred 537 men from Rainsford Island to Long Island. It is estimated that 1,777 people were interred on Rainsford Island over the years. Despite the efforts to improve conditions, women on Rainsford Island continued to face poor treatment and unsanitary conditions until its closure in 1895.
Long Island in Boston Harbor also has a history of housing institutions for the undesired and sick. In the 1880s, the City of Boston converted a hotel on Long Island into an almshouse, first called the Boston Almshouse. The institution served multiple purposes over the years, including an almshouse, hospital, home for unwed mothers, homeless shelter, and treatment centre for people with alcohol addiction. Similar to Rainsford Island, those sent to Long Island endured inadequate treatment and suffered immensely. The hospital faced numerous accusations, including poisoning patients with strychnine, neglecting patients in need of medical assistance, and providing insufficient or unacceptable food.
The history of these islands, with their institutions and social services, provided the backdrop for Lehane's novel Shutter Island. The novel is set on a fictitious hospital island, Ashecliffe Hospital, where a U.S. Marshal investigates the disappearance of a patient who is a multiple murderer. While the novel and film are fictional, they draw inspiration from the real-life histories of the Boston Harbor Islands, particularly the issues of mistreatment and stigmatization faced by those institutionalized on these islands.
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Long Island Hospital's mistreatment of patients
Shutter Island, a novel by American writer Dennis Lehane, was published in April 2003 by HarperCollins. It was adapted into a movie in 2010 by acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. The story follows Teddy Daniels, a federal marshal in the 1950s, as he investigates a missing person case on Shutter Island, located within Boston Harbor. While the hospital and island depicted in the film are fictitious, they are inspired by Long Island in Boston Harbor.
Long Island Hospital in Boston Harbor has a history of mistreating its patients. In 1903, the hospital faced numerous accusations, including poisoning patients with strychnine, neglecting those in need of medical assistance, and providing insufficient or unacceptable food. There were also reports of at least one assault and complaints about an insufficient morgue. Despite legislative protections like the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the American Hospital Association's Patient's Bill of Rights (1992), the stigma surrounding mental illness in American society persists. This stigma is reflected in media such as Shutter Island, which portrays mental illness as something to be feared.
Long Island Hospital was established in Boston Harbor in 1893 and operated until the mid-1900s. During its existence, the institution served multiple purposes, including an almshouse, hospital, home for unwed mothers, homeless shelter, and treatment center for alcohol addiction. Similar to Rainsford Island, patients on Long Island endured inadequate treatment and suffered immensely due to poor conditions.
In the 1880s, the city of Boston converted a hotel on Long Island into the Boston Almshouse, transferring female members of the poor to the island from Austin Farm in South Boston in 1887. The institution underwent various name changes until the 1920s but consistently faced accusations of mistreatment. In 1926, the facilities officially became known as Long Island Hospital.
While the true stories of social service institutions on islands may not be as dramatic as portrayed in Shutter Island, they echo the experiences of people labeled "undesired" or sick, who were isolated from the rest of society. The former superintendent of the Long Island facility spoke out about issues such as employee drunkenness, self-dealing, and corruption, highlighting the systemic problems within these institutions.
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Medfield State Hospital filming location
Medfield State Hospital, originally the Medfield Insane Asylum, is a historic former psychiatric hospital complex at 45 Hospital Road in Medfield, Massachusetts. The asylum was established in 1892 as the state's first facility for dealing with chronic mental patients. The college-like campus was designed by William Pitt Wentworth and developed between 1896 and 1914. It was the first asylum built using the new Cottage Plan layout, where patients were integrated into a small community to work a specific job, rather than being confined to cells.
The complex included 58 buildings at its height on a property of some 1.4 sq mi (3.6 km2), and a capacity of 2,200 patients. It raised its own livestock and produce, and generated its own heat, light, and power. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, but the property was closed in April 2003 and the buildings were shuttered. The grounds have been restored and opened to the public and are open every day from sunup to sundown.
The hospital has been used as a filming location for thriller and horror motion pictures such as The New Mutants, Shutter Island, and The Box. The now-closed psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts has been a popular location in some big Hollywood movies. The old Medfield State Hospital is also considered to be one of the most haunted places in New England.
Shutter Island, a frightening thriller by acclaimed director Martin Scorsese, was partly filmed on Peddocks Island, which provided the perfect spooky setting for the Ashecliffe Hospital for the "criminally insane". The film is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, who was inspired by the hospital and grounds on Long Island in Boston Harbor.
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Peddocks Island's Fort Andrews used as a backdrop
The 2010 film adaptation of Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese, used Peddocks Island as one of its filming locations. The island is one of the largest in Boston Harbor and is known for its rich biodiversity and history. It is also home to the now-defunct Fort Andrews, which served as the perfect backdrop for the spooky setting of the Ashecliffe Hospital for the "criminally insane".
Fort Andrews was built at the start of the 1900s and was active in harbour defence from 1904 until the end of World War II. During World War II, the fort held Italian prisoners of war, who were later put to work as paid Italian Service Units. The fort was decommissioned in 1946 and was purchased, along with the rest of Peddocks Island, by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the 1970s.
In the film, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) travels to Shutter Island, home of the Ashecliffe Hospital, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. The hospital and its staff are not all they seem, and Teddy discovers that illegal experiments are being conducted on the patients, including through the use of psychotropic drugs.
While the film and the hospital it depicts are fictitious, author Dennis Lehane has stated that his inspiration for the novel came from the hospital and grounds on Long Island in Boston Harbor, which he visited as a child during the Blizzard of 1978. Lehane sought to write a novel that would be an homage to Gothic settings, B movies, and pulp fiction.
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Rainsford Island's history of poor treatment
The novel and film Shutter Island are inspired by the history of the Boston Harbor Islands, with the author, Dennis Lehane, modelling the story's hospital and island on Long Island in Boston Harbor. However, the fictional Shutter Island is also likely influenced by the history of Rainsford Island, located between Long Island and Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor.
Rainsford Island, formerly known as Hospital Island, Pest House Island, and Quarantine Island, has a long history of poor treatment and social exclusion. From 1737 onwards, the island was used as a quarantine station and hospital for those with smallpox or fever. The conditions on the island were so poor that many of those brought there did not return home. Over time, Rainsford Island became a place where society's "undesired" individuals were sent away, including the poor, the sick, and those with addictions.
In the 1870s, Rainsford Island was used as a rock quarry, with all able-bodied men forced to break rocks. This labour was deadly, and the death rate on the island increased significantly. By the 1880s, the island was overcrowded, and the men were transferred to Long Island. In their place, a hospital for women opened, but the poor treatment and unsanitary conditions continued. The women on Rainsford were underfunded, expected to cook and clean for themselves, and endured unacceptable living conditions.
The activist Alice North Towne Lincoln filed a formal complaint about the conditions on Rainsford Island in 1894. After nine months of testimony, the city closed the facility in 1895, and the women were moved to Long Island. Despite this intervention, 166 women and 16 infants had died on Rainsford Island, including 11 infants born there. In total, it is estimated that 1,777 individuals were interred on the island.
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Frequently asked questions
The hospital in Shutter Island is based on the Long Island Hospital, which faced accusations of mistreatment, including poisoning patients with strychnine and neglecting those in need of medical assistance.
Long Island Hospital is located in Boston Harbor.
No, the film adaptation of Shutter Island was filmed at Medfield State Hospital in Massachusetts.
The author of Shutter Island, Dennis Lehane, drew inspiration from the histories of other hospitals on islands in Boston Harbor, including Rainsford Island and Long Island.
