Fergus Falls State Hospital: Part One
Neal Miller of Dilworth, MN sent in these beautiful photos of the Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center, formerly Fergus Falls State Hospital — an asylum. Neal’s comments accompany some of the photos below.
The search for a developer is on.
MPR has a nice article on the FFRTC here.
Built at the turn of the last century, the Fergus Falls Insane Asylum, later given the more politically correct name “Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center”, is one of the last surviving “Kirkbride Asylums”
Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride’s buildings were grand Victorian monoliths, usually dominating the surrounding countryside from some prominent hilltop.
An imposing sight even now, it must have seemed even more foreboding to those who came here against their will
More on Kirkbride buildings can be found here.
Kirkbride believed that fresh air and sunshine were the best treatments for mental illness, and thus no patient was denied a room with a window…
This, however, did have its drawbacks, as at least one patient is known to have leaped to his death from the upper floor of this ward.
Photos and captions by Neal Miller of Dilworth, MN. Part two in this series coming soon.
I am from Grand Forks, and I wanted to know if you had to get permission to go inside of this building. I would really like to go check it out.
They give guided tours on Fridays. If you have a big group, you can also have them on other days of the week. I was fortunate enough to be with a group just yesterday to have a tour. Wonderful old building and grounds so hope they can find a use for it. The tour guide said she was booking out into Aug. already. The building also is not heated so they do stop them when it gets too cold. Hope you get a chance to go-it was great and educational!!
They’re on FB. Check out Friends of the Kirkbride. Lots of info there.
It would be really if they could turn it into a museum. Would really hate to see them tear down such a beautiful part of history in the Fergus Falls area.