Clarinda State Hospital Kirkbride Building Central Administration Clock Tower Stock Photo

Clarinda iowa is home to one of three remaining kirkbride state hospital buildings or lunatic asylums, as they were known when constructed in 1885. The expansive red brick building is based on the kirkbride plan popular in the victorian era consisting of a series of sections stepped back from a central administration tower. Ornate architecture was thought to be an ideal environment for treatment. The building closed to patients in 2015