I think that while a good blog should be short on words and long on illustrations, I want to explain what I found in researching this very interesting place.
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| Regional Treatment Center - 1915 |
The establishment of
state mental hospitals in the U.S. is partly due to reformer Dorothea Dix, who testified
to the Massachusetts legislature in 1844, vividly describing the state's
treatment of people with mental illness: they were being housed in county
jails, private homes and the basements of public buildings. Dix's effort led to
the construction of the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum, the first asylum built
on the Kirkbride Plan.
Dr.
Kirkbride developed his requirements based on a philosophy of Moral Treatment.
The typical floor plan, with long rambling wings arranged to receive sunlight
and fresh air, was meant to promote privacy and comfort for patients. The idea
of institutionalization was thus central to Kirkbride's plan for effectively
treating patients with mental illnesses.
The
asylums tended to be large, imposing, Victorian-era institutional buildings
within extensive surrounding grounds, which often included farmland, sometimes
worked by patients as part of physical exercise and therapy. By 1900 the notion
of "building-as-cure" was largely discredited, and in the following
decades these large facilities became too expensive to maintain.
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| The Regional Treatment Center, Fergus Falls, MN |
Careful attention was given to every detail of their design to promote a healthy environment and convey a sense of respectable decorum. Placed in secluded areas within expansive grounds, many of these insane asylums seemed almost palace-like from the outside. But growing populations and insufficient funding led to unfortunate conditions, spoiling their idealistic promise.
Fergus Falls was incorporated in the late 1870’s and had a
population of 1635 souls in 1880. To relieve overcrowding at St. Peter and Rochester, MN, mental hospitals the state authorized the Fergus Falls facility then known as "The Third Minnesota Hospital for the Insane". Construction began on the south tower area in about 1885. They built to the north with the central tower completed and the institution opened in 1890. By 1907 the north tower area was completed. It was the last of the 35 or more Kirkbride style hospitals built in the United States.
Following Kirkbride’s theories meant a large setting of over 1000 acres with comfortable arrangements for patients. Self-sufficient with acreage devoted to farming, and even with a water supply for the unit, it served the needs of the original population of about 1000 patients.
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| Layout of the Regional Treatment Center |
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| Memorial, 1890-1990 |
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| Center tower with main entrance closed and offices added in the 1960's. |
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| Looking north towards the North tower |
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View of the south tower area with fire escape.
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| Nurse's cottage, main entrance |
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| Nurse's cottage, rear view. |
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| Receiving and processing building |
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| Service building such as carpenter's shop. |
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Original stable
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