Radiator and Shattered Tile Floor, Fergus Falls Kirkbride Building

The Fergus Falls Kirkbride Building, part of the former Fergus Falls State Hospital in Minnesota, opened in 1890 under the Kirkbride Plan, a 19th-century model for asylum design that emphasized natural light, ventilation, and staggered wings for patient wards. Cast-iron radiators like the one here were standard equipment for the building's steam heating system, fed by boilers in a separate power plant on the grounds. Hexagonal mosaic tile floors, common in institutional buildings of the period, were chosen for durability and ease of cleaning. The hospital operated for over a century before closing in the 2000s, and the Kirkbride building has sat vacant since, with the state weighing preservation against demolition.