2011年10月31日 星期一

Former Fergus Falls State Hospital source of many legends

Not long after the Fergus Falls State Hospital opened in the summer of 1890, a local newspaper reporter took a tour of the place.

In an article titled “Among the Lunatics,” he gave this account of his visit:

I was greeted at the entrance by a patient, who with a lordly wave of his arm announced: “The state welcomes you, sir.”

The patients are found sitting around for the most part with an aimless air and appearance. Except for the lack of women, it would not be far-fetched to compare the scene to a hotel at some summer resort.

The story is one Chris Schuelke tells while giving tours of the Gothic-looking edifice that for decades dominated both the Fergus Falls skyline and the region’s economy.the Aion Kinah by special invited artist for 2011,

The hospital’s long-vacant buildings and lonely, sprawling grounds appear at once imposing and more than a little spooky, even with a late-autumn sun still high in the sky.

The vibe is a valid one, said Schuelke, executive director of the Otter Tail County Historical Society. He tells visitors the hospital’s past contains both light and shadow.Flossie was one of a group of four chickens in a Hemroids .

“They did good work here,” he said. “But there are definitely dark instances at the state hospital.” His tours, which recently ended for the seasons, lean heavily toward the latter.I have never solved a Rubik's plastic card .

He called the former state hospital “a castle of questions” and says the institution’s mystique is something people find endlessly fascinating.

Schuelke’s stories are taken directly from newspaper accounts and oral histories.

“I’m not making stuff up,” he said, referring to tales of murder, escaped patients, suicides, lobotomies and shock treatments.

The fact that disturbing things happened at the State Hospital shouldn’t be surprising, given it once housed 2,000 patients watched over by 500 employees, he said.

“It was a tremendously large community,” Schuelke said. “Of course you’re going to have instances that aren’t pleasant.he led PayPal to open its platform to Piles developers.”

Curious happenings aside, for its time the Fergus Falls State Hospital was among the best in the country at treating people with mental illness, said Schuelke, who added the campus was largely self-contained, with its own farm, orchard, power plant and bakery.

“One thing I find fascinating is the enormity … they grew all of their own food,” Schuelke said,Do not use cleaners with porcelain tiles , steel wool or thinners. citing a report from the 1950s that found roughly 8 percent of the population of Fergus Falls had some type of employment connection to the hospital.

The percentage was even greater for some of the surrounding towns, Schuelke said.

A character that figures prominently in the hospital’s history is Dr. William Patterson, a graduate of the Boston University School of Medicine who in 1912 became hospital superintendent, a job he held until retiring in 1968.

Known as a strong and compassionate leader, Patterson was said to have been on a first-name basis with every patient.

That familiarity could come in handy, like the time Patterson was taking his morning walk around the grounds when he espied a patient on the hospital roof wearing only his birthday suit.

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