Kirkbride Buildings - Mount Pleasant State Hospital

Originally known as the Iowa Lunatic Asylum, Mount Pleasant State Hospital opened in 1861. It was the first public asylum in the state of Iowa, and was built between 1855 and 1865 at a cost of approximately $400,000.

The Kirkbride building was designed in a relatively modest Elizabethan style by architect Jonathan Preston of Boston, Massachusetts. Apparently, Dr. Kirkbride himself recommended Mr. Preston to the Iowa state commission.

In 1936, a fire devasted most of the building, sparing only a kitchen services area at the back. There isn't really anything left of the original building. Several old images of the Mount Pleasant Kirkbride can be found in the American Memory collection. The interior view of the central staircase is especially worth seeing.