Lawn Behind the Fergus Falls Kirkbride Building

The Kirkbride Building at the Fergus Falls Regional Treatment Center was completed in 1890 to a design by architect Warren B. Dunnell, following the linear, staggered-wing plan advocated by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride for the humane treatment of the mentally ill. The complex once housed the Fergus Falls State Hospital, which admitted its first patients in 1890 and operated for over a century before closing in the early 2000s. Built of cream-colored brick with a slate roof, the building stretches nearly a third of a mile end to end, making it one of the longest buildings in Minnesota. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.