Independence State Hospital
| Independence State Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Geography | |
| Location | Independence, Iowa, United States |
| Coordinates | 42°27′28″N 91°55′33″W / 42.457702°N 91.925919°W |
| Organization | |
| Type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Speciality | Psychiatric hospital |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | The Independence Lunatic Asylum, The Independence State Asylum, The Independence Asylum for the Insane, The Iowa State Hospital for the Insane, The Independence Mental Health Institute |
| Opened | 1873 |
| Links | |
| Lists | Hospitals in Iowa |
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, geriatrics, drug addicts, mentally ill, and the criminally insane. It was built under the Kirkbride Plan. The hospital's many names have included: The Independence Lunatic Asylum, The Independence State Asylum, The Independence Asylum for the Insane, The Iowa State Hospital for the Insane, and The Independence Mental Health Institute. There is also a labyrinth of tunnels which connect every building. Like most asylums of its time, it has had a gruesome and dark history. Remnants of this are the graveyard, hydrotherapy tubs, and lobotomy equipment.