The Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute was a psychiatric institution located in Mount Pleasant,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, USA. Originally known as the Iowa Lunatic Asylum, it opened in 1861.Kirkbride Buildings
Mount Pleasant State Hospital
/ref> It is located on the same campus as The

Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility The Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility (MPCF) is an Iowa Department of Corrections correctional institution located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi R ...

. There was also a labyrinth of tunnels which connected every building. It was the first

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

in Iowa and was built under the

Kirkbride Plan The Kirkbride Plan was a system of mental asylum design advocated by American psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride (1809–1883) in the mid-19th century. The asylums built in the Kirkbride design, often referred to as Kirkbride Buildings (or simp ...

History

It was constructed between 1855 and 1865 at a cost of $400,000. The first patient was admitted in February 1861. It is a Kirkbride building, and was the first asylum in Iowa. The Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute is the oldest of the Iowa Department of Human Services facilities that serve persons affected by mental illness. In 1936, a fire destroyed most of the administration section, leaving only a kitchen area at the back. In 1946, the facility reached its peak occupancy of 1,581 patients. Since 1945, new therapies and medications have helped to lower the facility's population, and the individual's average length of stay has been reduced from years to a matter of weeks. This allowed the facility to release many of its patients and eventually reassign the patients to Cherokee Mental Health Institute (

Cherokee, Iowa Cherokee is a city in Cherokee County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,199 at the 2020 Census, down from 5,369 in 2000. It is the county seat of Cherokee County. History Cherokee was laid out as a town in 1870, and was named for the ...

) and

Independence State Hospital The Independence State Hospital was built in 1873 as the second asylum in the state of Iowa. It is located in Independence, Iowa. The original plan for patients was to relieve crowding from the hospital at Mount Pleasant and to hold alcoholics, ...

(

Independence, Iowa Independence is a city in, and the county seat of, Buchanan County, Iowa, United States. The population was 6,064 in the 2020 census, an increase from 6,014 in 2000. History Independence was founded in 1847 near the center of present-day Buch ...

), which are still in use today, and to

Clarinda Treatment Complex The Clarinda Treatment Complex was built in 1884 as the Clarinda State Hospital in Clarinda, Iowa in southwest Iowa. It was the third asylum in the state of Iowa. The hospital's many name variations include: The Clarinda Lunatic Asylum, The Clarin ...

(

Clarinda, Iowa Clarinda is a city in and the county seat of Page County, Iowa, Page County, Iowa. It is located in Nodaway Township, Page County, Iowa, Nodaway Township. The population was 5,369 at the time of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Histor ...

), which also closed in 2015. It has been known by many names, including the Mount Pleasant Insane Asylum, the Mount Pleasant Hospital for the Insane and the Mount Pleasant Mental Health Institute. Former Iowa Governor

Terry Branstad Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is an American politician and former diplomat. A member of the Republican Party, he served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979 before serving as governor of Iowa fro ...

announced in January 2015 that he would close Mount Pleasant and Clarinda MHIs that year. There were plans to develop a "crisis line", which will treat chronic mental health disorders like

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

. Both MHIs closed in June of 2015,https://www.kmaland.com/news/ernst-tours-former-clarinda-mhi-building/article_5f2c436c-7d54-11ec-80e9-e338a8298ed0.html https://www.southeastiowaunion.com/news/museum-for-mhi-opening-on-grounds-of-correctional-facility-in-mt-pleasant/ https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/01/iowa-mental-health-institutes-closed-branstad/29571527/. The architect of the building, Thomas Story Kirkbride, had an inclusive plan for such structures, including the requirement that staff live on or near the premises and that "guests" be assigned meaningful work. More than thirty such structures still remain.

References

External links

* Kirkbride Buildings
Mount Pleasant State Hospital
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1861 Defunct hospitals in Iowa Buildings and structures in Henry County, Iowa Hospitals established in 1855 Psychiatric hospitals in Iowa Kirkbride Plan hospitals 1855 establishments in Iowa