Hospital for the Insane, Main Building, West Main Street Vicinity, Cherokee, Cherokee County, IA

Significance: This hospital was the last of the four state mental hospitals to be built in Iowa and the only one where the main building, a connected complex in echelon plan, was fully completed before the hospital was opened to patients. The architects were an Iowa firm, Josselyn and Taylor, and the overall form and massing of component portions of the building suggests a French chateau, while the small-scale decorative motifs are those of the Queen Anne Revival Style. The functional arrangements reflect a moderately conservative approach for the times in the care of mental illness.
Survey number: HABS IA-51