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Featured Article Of The Week
Independence State Hospital
One of 4 Mental Health Institute’s in the State of Iowa. – the others being Mt. Pleasant, Cherokee and Clarinda. The Independence state Hospital is a state run mental asylum in Independence, Iowa. Like many Kirkbrides, there is a labyrinth of underground tunnels which connect every building and were used to transport patients during winter, and a cemetery on the grounds. Little has been changed, so it looks similar to when it did when it first opened.
The “Mission Statement” of the Mental Health Institute, Independence is “To assure that the mentally ill adult citizens of Northeast Iowa and mentally ill children from Eastern Iowa have the opportunity to attain their maximum level of functioning by having available highest quality of inpatient psychiatric care through the institute.”
The “Vision Statement” of the Mental Health Institute, Independence, is “To foster a therapeutic environment for persons with mental illness, which preserves patient’s self-respect and dignity, assures optimum care and treatment, and enhances patient functioning and independence.”
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 for the building of 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 admitted on May 1, 1873. It was built at a cost of $845,000 and took 10 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. There was a lot of prairie granite laying in the fields in this area 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 was credited with contributing to the physical heath of patients during those early days. Click here for more...
