Independence State Hospital
I’ve added an Independence State Hospital page where you can see my photos of the Kirkbride and learn a little about its history. The photos are from a visit to Iowa I took back in 2004. As I mentioned in the Clarinda post, the quality of the pictures leaves something to be desired. I think these are even a full step down from the Clarinda photos. (The ones from Cherokee are even worse. I don’t even want to post those, but I probably will just to be as complete as possible. Watch for them in the future…)
Independence is a nice looking Kirkbride. It’s facade isn’t as dramatic as some, but it’s still a pretty impressive sight, set back from the main road, sitting at the end of a long stretch of open lawn. Its relative simplicity in design would probably have pleased Dr. Kirkbride.
It was a rainy day when I was there which kind of put a damper on things. It was a very pleasant visit in spite of the clouds and rain though. Independence is still a functioning mental health facility, but like most state pysch centers these days, it’s nowhere near as crowded as it used to be.
One thing I’ve heard about Independence which I haven’t been able to verify is that the main building started life as a mansion which was converted into a Kirkbride building. I have a hard time believing that’s true since Kirkbrides were almost exclusively purpose built from the foundation up. I don’t know of any that were adapted from existing buildings. If that’s true about Independence, it would be an interesting little side note. I still need to find some verifying documents though.
Another interesting fact related to Independence is that the Kirkbride was designed by architect Steven Vaughn Shipman. Shipman apparently designed at least five Kirkbride buildings. The five I know about were in Anna, Illinois; Elgin, Illinois; Independence, Iowa; Mendota, Wisconsin; and Oshkosh, Wisonsin. That’s pretty prolific. Unfortunately, I believe that Independence is the only one that survives.
Woo Hoo!! I was very excited to see you posted these pics… I think the pictures look GREAT - Perhpas I’m not as knowledgable about quality photography as some, but I see NOTHING wrong with these pics at all… I’m curious about that Mansion thing… I hope to visit there someday soon - another Kirkbride not far from my home. Thanks for posting your pics!!
Thanks. The quality of online pictures of these places has really evolved over the last few years. There are a lot more asylum photographers out there now, and some are pretty talented. People like me have had time to learn some things too. So when I post older photos I always feel self-conscious about that. I could do a better job these days.
That said, the photos aren’t what the site is all about anyway. So it doesn’t really matter. It’s just my ego talking.
If/when you visit Independence, see if you can find anything out about that mansion story. Let us know if you do.
I also agree with Kirby. These pictures are nice.
Great Job, the pictures are great! I work for MHI and I am also on the Buchanan County Historical Society, there is no truth to the mansion story. This has been looked into many times. This building was built by the State of Iowa for a mental hospital. There were no other buildings on the property before this building was built. This was the first building built on the grounds all the other buildings came after. The building was named the Renyolds building (although it is usually called the main building), after many other buildings were built on the grounds. There is the Whitte building, Grove Hall, and Stewart hall to name a few.
Thanks, guys.
Mike, thanks too for confirming that the mansion story is bogus. It didn’t seem right to me, so I’m glad to hear it’s not true.
Mike, do they give tours of the Independence Kirkbride and grounds? Do you give tours? I’d love to have a tour guide who is knowledgable about the history of the place when I go visit… sounds like you know your stuff.
Hey Kerby, no problem getting a tour. Keep in mind though because of confidentiality patient areas are off limits, but there are a lot of cool areas you can see. Just call the main MHI phone number or let me know I can set it up for you. There are several other places I think you would enjoy seeing in Independence when you get ready to come up this way let me know.