page_title: Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Fergus Falls State Hospital, Fergus Falls, Minnesota, USA.
context_page_description: The Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center is a former hospital located in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. It was built in the Kirkbride Plan style and first opened to patients in 1890. Over the next century it operated as one of the state's main hospitals for the mentally ill and also worked with people with developmental disabilities and chemical dependency issues. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
  The hospital closed in 2007. Various proposals have been made to repurpose the site and buildings since its closure.
context_section_description: Designed by architect Warren B. Dunnell, the Fergus Falls State Hospital was one of the last Kirkbride structures built in the United States. The hospital had a sprawling campus and large stately buildings in accordance with the Kirkbride Plan. Only the West Detached Ward was finished in time for the hospital's opening in 1890. The other wings and the main building were finished by 1912.
  When the hospital opened its doors on July 29, 1890 it received two men from an Otter Tail judge. The next day it received 80 patients transferred from the St. Peter hospital. The first patients were all men, and most of them were farmers or laborers. Women were not admitted to the institution until 1893, when 125 women were transferred from St. Peter. By the late 1920s the hospital's population was around 1,700 making it the largest mental health hospital in the state. As the institution grew, so did the town. The population in Fergus Falls more than doubled between 1890 and 1930.
  The Fergus Falls State Hospital quickly became overcrowded, even though it had been intended to solve overcrowding problems. Patients could be admitted voluntarily but many were sent by court order. Most stayed for life. Over the course of the twentieth century, hospital leaders were on forefront of treatments like occupational therapy and shock treatment. Still, the court system treated the hospital as simply a convenient way to isolate social outcasts. Most patients were poor and had few resources in times of trouble.
  After World War II, drug therapy led to better outpatient care, and the entire Minnesota hospital system was scaled back. In 1971, the hospital's mission changed. The Fergus Falls State Hospital became Minnesota's first multi-purpose regional center. That meant that it served patients based on where they lived, rather than what services they needed. Since its founding, the Fergus Falls institution had primarily served people with mental illnesses. After 1970, the institution began accepting patients with developmental disabilities and chemical dependencies as well because they lived in Northwestern or West Central Minnesota. In 1985, the hospital's name was changed to the Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center to reflect its new mission.
caption: Fergus Falls State Hospital in 1912
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