Anoka State Hospital: The first state hospital in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, opened in 1900. Cambridge State Hospital: Opened in1925 as the Colony for Epileptics. It closed in 1997.
Fergus Falls State Hospital: Initially named the third state hospital for the insane, operated between 1890 and 2004. Rochester State Hospital: Began as the Minnesota Inebriate Asylum in 1879. In 1893 the name was changed to Rochester State Hospital. It closed in1982.
Minnesota established the first hospital for the insane, as it was then known, at St. Peter in 1866. As the population grew, several other hospitals were added, some focusing on particular types of illnesses, disabilities, or age groups. In 1985 several of the state hospitals became regional treatment centers, many offering outpatient services.
The Minnesota Security Hospital (MSH) is the only secure facility in the state designed to provide assessment and treatment of individuals with severe mental health disorders who are also considered dangerous. In 2011, MSH was placed under a conditional license due to overuse of restraint and seclusion.
The Moose Lake hospital closed in 1996.
2005The Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center, as it was later renamed, officially closed in 2005.
It closed in 2005. Tours of the inside of the facility are not available. However, the grounds are public property, and we invite visitors to walk around the beautiful campus.
The remaining patients were moved into a new, secure treatment facility in 1999. Volunteers renovated three of the empty cottages into housing for veterans in 2017, and a fourth in 2019. As of 2020, the Anoka County department of corrections continues to use the remaining buildings.
1890The Fergus Falls State Hospital opened in 1890 and was designed on a model established by physician Thomas Kirkbride. It first received transfer patients from the St. Peter State Hospital, and then admitted only men. Women were first admitted to the institution in 1893.
A total of 73 known Kirkbride Plan hospitals were constructed throughout the United States between 1845 and 1910.
The beautiful cascades and rapids at the Broken Down Dam in Fergus Falls are absolutely stunning.
The Anoka State Hospital dug holes to place the bodies of deceased residents and simply marked them with a number. Many years later, a devoted few researched each patient and was able to give them a name and a headstone. While most of the grounds are abandoned or off limits, the cemetery can still be visited.
Anoka CountyThe buildings and land are owned by Anoka County and a number of the buildings are in use. In 2017, the county leased four of the buildings to the city of Anoka, which is allowing them to be renovated as housing for veterans who are homeless.
Anoka CountyAnoka / CountyAnoka County is the fourth-most-populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 363,887. Wikipedia
A portion of the new hospital was dedicated to treating chronic inebriates. The hospital opened on January 1, 1879, with one hundred male patients transferred from St. Peter.
Rochester State Hospital opened on January 1, 1879, as Minnesota’s second hospital for the insane. It served as part of Minnesota’s state hospital system until 1982, when changing trends in treatment for the mentally ill and lack of funding led to its closure. Rochester State Hospital began as the Minnesota Inebriate Asylum.
It served as a center for many other state institutions, and by 1971 was the only remaining surgical unit in the state hospital system. In the same year, it became the surgical center for the Department of Public Welfare.
The Federal Medical Center, a prison for inmates with medical problems, was built on the hospital’s grounds in 1984. The prison used some of the detached hospital buildings but demolished others to allow for new construction. Shirey, Sarah. "Rochester State Hospital.".
Treatment methods evolved throughout the hospital’s history. In the late 1940s, insulin and electroshock treatments were common. In the 1950s, lobotomies were used on some patients, and drug use became more extensive. The hospital’s campus continued to change as well.
Among the state hospitals for which the Library holds records are: Anoka State Hospital: The first state hospital in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, opened in 1900. Cambridge State Hospital: Opened in1925 as the Colony for Epileptics. It closed in 1997.
Fergus Falls State Hospital: Initially named the third state hospital for the insane, operated between 1890 and 2004. Rochester State Hospital: Began as the Minnesota Inebriate Asylum in 1879. In 1893 the name was changed to Rochester State Hospital. It closed in1982.
Minnesota established the first hospital for the insane, as it was then known, at St. Peter in 1866 . As the population grew, several other hospitals were added, some focusing on particular types of illnesses, disabilities, or age groups. In 1985 several of the state hospitals became regional treatment centers, many offering outpatient services. Over time, several hospitals closed and the state developed a more community-based approach to the care and treatment of the patients formerly housed in these large facilities. Records for these facilities document their operations as well as some of the patients who resided there. Among the state hospitals for which the Library holds records are:
Cambridge State Hospital: Opened in1925 as the Colony for Epileptics. It closed in 1997. Faribault State School and Hospital: Opened in1879 as an experimental department of the Institute for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind for "idiotic and feeble-minded children" and then became a separate institution.
The first institutions were developed as places to put people who were seen as "defective" or "insane." The intent was to isolate people and protect society from them . There were hopes that such actions would also result in treatment and cure. The number ofhospitals and the number of Minnesotans placed in them continued to grow. By 1960, the State of Minnesota operated 11
A significant part of the study of the state hospital system was the development of a public process which provided Minnesotans with an opportunity to express ideas and concerns regarding the future of state hospitals and the delivery of services to persons with mental illness, mental retardation and chemical dependency. This public process involved three major elements:
Anoka State Hospital has 22 main buildings on a 243 acre site. Total area of main buildings is 454,455 square feet and it has a licensed bed capacity of 347. Ofthe main buildings on which rating data are available, 9 are rated poor or poor to fair ( 4 are vacant and 2 are identified for demolition), 6 fair, 3 fair to good or good, and one, the chemical dependency unit built in 1980, is rated excellent. Seven of the buildings contain licensed beds and all are accessible to persons with handicaps. Anoka State Hospital is located in a high density suburban area. Ninety-five percent of its property is zoned single family residential and 5 percent is zoned multiple dwelling. Mixed zoning of property surrounding the hospital includes multiple dwelling, commercial and industrial.
Hospitals vary considerably in terms of the age of buildings, number of buildings, amount of land, and condition of buildings. Table 11 (see Appendix) summarizes information collected during a 1982 inventory of Minnesota state hospital plant facilities.
The gross state cost aggregates all financial resources used by the state hospital system: operating expenditure, indirect expense, bond interest and depreciation added together. Indirect expense includes expenditures for Department of Human Services operations associated with or prorated to state hospital operations including Fiscal Management, Reimbursement, Personnel, Information Systems and Mental Health Bureau. It also includes prorated expenditures for Departments of Administration, Employee Relations, Finance, Attorney General and other state agencies that provide services to the state hospital system. Bond interest is the cost of money borrowed to finance construction and improvement of plant facilities. Depreciation expense recognizes an amortized amount of capital expenditure for land, buildings and equipment. The depreciation expense is not placed in a reserve account, but it does recognize state capital costs and is an allowable item for federal reimbursement.
Minnesota's Lost Golf Courses, Part 2" was released in July 2020. The books are most readily available online at Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble (bn.com). He continues to write about lost courses on this website and has uncovered more than 225 of them.
Joe Bissen is a Caledonia, Minnesota, native and former golf letter-winner at Winona State University. He is a sports copy editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, former sports copy editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and former sports editor of the Duluth News-Tribune.
The Minnesota Security Hospital (MSH) is the only secure facility in the state designed to provide assessment and treatment of individuals with severe mental health disorders who are also considered dangerous. In 2011, MSH was placed under a conditional license due to overuse of restraint and seclusion.
OCDR began the process with an issue assessment including interviews with approximately 10 groups of stakeholders and extensive document review. Based on the assessment OCDR recommended:
MSH is an inherently difficult place to live and work. Especially strong relationships and communication are needed to ensure quality patient care and staff safety. The collaborative problem solving process established the trust and relationships needed at MSH.
In 1948, Gov. Luther Youngdahl gave a reporter and photographer from the Minneapolis Tribune permission to tour the state hospital system and to write about it. “The articles exposed the conditions to the public for the first time, and horrified reactions swiftly followed,” Hilse said. “Gov.
By the time the Anoka State Hospital was built in the early 1900s, a new “cottage” style of design was used. By comparison, earlier state hospitals in Fergus Falls, St. Peter and Rochester were based on the sprawling Kirkbride model.
The Anoka State Hospital was initially called the First State Asylum for the Insane and it focused on care, not treatment. Hilse said prior to the late 1800s there was very little treatment for mental illness as treatments were unknown.
As a result, doctors tried many experimental treatments. Lobotomies were one of the controversial ones, with 91 lobotomies performed at the Anoka State Hospital between 1952 and 1962, she said.
By 1926 the population at the Anoka State Hospital hit 1,000 and didn’t dip below that until 1949. While there were some improvements, there also were issues. “The 1940s were unquestionably the low point in conditions for patients at the Anoka State Hospital,” she said.
A Kirkbride-inspired hospital typically featured a main building with two bat-like wings coming off of it , said Audra Hilse, collections manager at the Anoka County Historical Society. The new cottage design gained favor after Dr. W.B. Hallock wrote, “Cottage System for Treating the Insane” in 1877.