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Featured Article Of The Week
Independence State Hospital
During the middle of the 19th century, at about the time the Civil War was drawing to a close, there was a growing incidence of mental illness in Iowa. At that time, there was only one state facility for the mentally ill, located at Mt. Pleasant in the southeast corner of the state. In operation but a few years, it quickly became overcrowded. A bill passed by the Iowa Legislature on April 6, 1868, appropriated money to build a second hospital for the insane. It was to be located west of Independence. The new asylum became a reality when the doors opened, and patients were admitted on May 1, 1873. It was built for $845,000 and took ten years to complete. The walls of the main building are made up of stone taken from the quarries around Farley and Stone City, while the foundation is of prairie granite. The latter was a plus for the State of Iowa, as the contractor was not obligated to use material this durable. This area had a lot of prairie granite in the fields during the mid-19th century. There was a French influence here in the mansard roofs, lofty arched windows, decorative slating, bracketed eaves, domes, corner towers, and ornamental roof turrets. Due to circulation capabilities, the main building contributed to patients' physical health during those early days.
The landscape artist, J.J. Weidenmann, was a professional of some renown, for he did the State Capitol grounds in Des Moines and some work on Central Park in New York City. He was employed here to furnish all the plans for improvement of the grounds, drainage, roads, drives and walks, grading, and lakes, and also a map for the guidance of the gardener in planting trees. This work, incidentally, was done largely by patients treated here at the time. Click here for more...
