Peeling Walls Along a Curved Ward at Fergus Falls Kirkbride Building

The Fergus Falls Kirkbride Building was completed in 1890 to house the Fergus Falls State Hospital, a state-run psychiatric institution in western Minnesota. Architect Warren B. Dunnell designed the structure according to the Kirkbride Plan, a 19th-century model that used stepped, curved wings to maximize light and airflow in patient wards. The building's sweeping brick corridors and mosaic tile floors, some patterned with quatrefoil motifs, were typical of the era's institutional architecture, meant to convey order and cleanliness. The hospital operated for over a century before closing in the early 2000s, and the building was later listed on the National Register of Historic Places.