The Grafton State School on 6th St., W., in
Grafton, North Dakota was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1996.
History
It includes work dating from 1901. It includes
Prairie School
Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...
,
Beaux Arts, and
Classical Revival
Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...
architecture. There were six
contributing buildings
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
and one other
contributing structure
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...
—remnants of tunnels connecting the buildings—included in the of the listing.
[ It has also been known as the North Dakota Institution for the Feeble Minded.
It is significant as representing "the official effort of the State of North Dakota to care for its developmentally disabled citizens during the twentieth century, and ... for its association with Dr. Arthur Rufus Trado Wylie (1873-1941), superintendent during 1910-1933 and a leading figure nationally in the care of the developmentally disabled.][ and ]
Renamed the "State Developmental Center" enacted by the North Dakota Legislature in 1989, another piece of legislation enacted at the same time but did not become effective until January 1, 1991 resulted in a further name change, dropping the "State" from the name to "Developmental Center" - or generally known as the "North Dakota Developmental Center". The agency is a division of the North Dakota Department of Human Services and was administratively merged with the North Dakota State Hospital in April, 2000 under a single superintendent, Alex Schweitzer.
References