Property Record
1445 N 4th Street
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | ST. CROIX COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES |
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| Other Name: | ST. CROIX COUNTY OFFICE BUILDING |
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| Reference Number: | 237502 |
| Location (Address): | 1445 N 4th Street |
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| County: | St. Croix |
| City: | New Richmond |
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| Year Built: | 1977 |
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| Additions: | 2015 |
| Survey Date: | 2018 |
| Historic Use: | small office building |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | The non-extant St. Croix County Insane Asylum was constructed on a large site northwest of the City of New Richmond in 1897, following an agreement with the City of Hudson that New Richmond would receive the asylum institution, while Hudson would receive the County Courthouse. A non-extant Poor House was added to the grounds in 1898 to care for the mentally ill and indigent. Common at the time, the asylum was operated to be economically self-sustainable with farm and extensive livestock, which the patients were required to care for while at the institution. The St. Croix county asylum proceeded to operate a 667-acre farm. The county asylum purchased a Holstein herd of dairy cattle in 1917 and in the following decades won 33 National Holstein Progressive Breeder Registry awards for the breeding of dairy cows. The institution was later known as the County Home or the County Farm. The earlier poorhouse building burned down in 1924 and was replaced with the non-extant County Homenbuilding, which eventually became a treatment center. By the mid-twentieth century, the grounds had grown to include a large number of agricultural outbuildings, a cemetery, and a number of garages. Three such garages, used by either the asylum or by the county government for its vehicles, remain on the grounds. Each one representing a different period of construction and design. In 1958, the poor farm was closed, and several buildings demolished. By 1971, state regulations prevented hospital patients from working on the county farm. In 1977, the small St. Croix County Mental Health Services building was constructed in front of the older hospital building, located at 1445 North Fourth Street at the northwest edge of the City of New Richmond. In 1978, the St. Croix Industries and Extended Opportunities Workshop was constructed on the grounds, and a nursing home complex was completed in 1982. The grounds were eventually called the St. Croix Health Center, and the main asylum building was demolished in 1984, despite calls for its preservation. St. Croix County moved its service facilities to the south side of New Richmond in 2014 for the St. Croix County Human Services offices. The St. Croix County Health Center was completed in 2015 with a number of wings on the site of the old asylum buildings. |
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| Bibliographic References: |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |