In 1868 after a year of planning, construction was completed on a department of photography within the former residents quarters of Cook House on Bellevue hospital grounds. Alterations included a 12 by 14 foot skylight and a partitioned space within the laboratory, presumably for a dark room, that measured 6 by 12. Financial oversight was the responsibility of apothecary John Frey and he published the first two reports for the department. All subsequent reports were written by O. G. Mason and sometimes co-signed by Frey. From its inception, photographic production at Bellevue was ambitious and over 1200 positive paper prints were made in 1869. Frey reported the success of the department with these words: