Dunn County Insane Asylum
| Dunn County Asylum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1891 |
| Opened | 1892 |
| Closed | 1971 |
| Demolished | 1979 |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Architect(s) | John Charles |
| Location | Menomonie, WI |
| Alternate Names |
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History
On February 4, 1891, the county board appointed a building commission with the responsibility of building an asylum. Mr John Charles of Mineral Point , WI was selected to prepare plans for the building. Within a month the asylum site was selected and purchased from the Knapp, Stout & Co. for $6000.00. Hackworthy and Hoeser, contractors from Appleton, WI were selected to construct the building on their bid of $35,783.00. Plumbing and gas were done for $2,480.00 by J.A. Trane of La Crosse, WI. Local contractor F.E. Peas constructed the root cellar, laundry and ice house for $2000.00. Heating and lighting were contracted for $7, 405.00. Last but not least "Sanitary Closets" and two "Vented Urinals" were purchased at the cost of $900.00.
The asylum was situated 1 1/2 miles east of Menomonie. The extreme length of the building was 235 feet and the width 120 feet. It was heated by hot water , lighted by gas and had a thorough system of ventilation. No asylum in the state was more complete in all of its appointments for the care and comfort of the patients. The building had four wards for the insane and could care for 117 patients.
The Dunn County Insane Asylum first patient was received on February 10, 1892. It cost less than $3.00 per week to maintain a patient in the asylum. By October of 1892 there were 111 patients in the asylum, 48 from Dunn County. There were no in house Doctors , but local doctor , Dr. N.L. Howison , would visit twice a week and was on call for any emergencies. It soon became a self-supporting institution with its own farm, producing more than needed, the extra milk, and farm crops were sold to local markets. Three men were employed on the farm and in the summer were assisted by trustworthy patients to care for the animals or work in the field and garden. In 1924 there was a net profit of $4,412.43 from farm and garden produce.
The middle of the twentieth century, the Dunn County Asylum and Home had come under the supervision of the State Department of Public Welfare, and in 1947 the institution changed its name to the Dunn County Hospital and Home. This name change was intended to reflect transformations in state law which extended the services offered by the facility to include both the acute and chronic mentally ill and individuals with chemical addictions. In 1948, the Dunn County Home, which had begun to witness a decline in the number of residents during the Depression, became a private nursing home. The decline in patient numbers and the subsequent decision to lease the building were rooted in the establishment of a national old age pension system in the 1930s that allowed many of the former residents to live independently.
By the middle of the 1960s, the Dunn County Hospital needed additional beds and improvements in its old, decaying facility. In 1966, the Welfare Committee of the Dunn County Board embarked upon a three-year study of the problems facing the hospital. In 1969, the committee recommended that the board construct a new facility that would add 100 beds. In 1972 this facility, overseen by the State Department of Health and Social Services, was opened as the Dunn County Health Care Center. The new facility initially housed a nursing home on the first floor and a psychiatric unit on the second floor. It also had facilities for the treatment of alcoholism. In 1970, the main barn burned and dairy operations ceased. Other farming operations ended in 1978. The original asylum building was demolished in 1979.
Images
Cemetery
Potters Field is located one mile east of the city limits in Menomonie, Dunn County, Wisconsin. It was the final resting place of a number of people who spent time at the Dunn County Asylum for the Chronic Insane or the Dunn County Poor Farm, or who died without resources to be buried. There are 105 known burials, HERE is a list of names known so far.
