Row of Sinks in a Ward Washroom at Fergus Falls Kirkbride Building

The Fergus Falls Kirkbride Building was constructed beginning in 1888 as the main structure of the Fergus Falls State Hospital, a state-run psychiatric institution in western Minnesota. Its design follows the Kirkbride Plan, a 19th-century model for asylum architecture developed by psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride, which called for staggered wings to maximize light and ventilation for patients. The hospital operated for over a century before closing in the early 2000s, and communal washrooms like this one served the wards that once housed hundreds of patients. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, and portions of the site have since faced redevelopment proposals due to the cost of maintaining the aging structure.