The Anoka State Hospital, previously the Anoka State Asylum and currently the Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center, was created by an act of the Minnesota Legislature in 1899. The City of Hastings originally won the site, but the vote was reconsidered and Anoka was awarded the site (Anoka Herald 1897). By 1937, the hospital grounds included 735 acres of land, which housed 10 cottages for women patients and one large building for the male patients (Anoka County Union 1937). The hospital reached its maximum capacity in 1954 when the population was approximately 1,500 people, 1,000 of which were women (Anoka County Union 1972). <http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:bzyAdv0xhycC:www.cnr.umn.edu/FR/degpro g/webclass/NRES4195/Past_class_products/Melissa_final%255B1%255D.doc+%22Anok a+State+Asylum%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8> I am sure there are others who know more then I. :-)) Just a www.google.com search. I do know that years ago many people were put into institutions for chemical imbalances in their bodies, such as Vitamin B deficiency (forget the correct name for it now). My father in law has this and needs shots once a month. Before the doctor's caught it, it had started to affect his mind. His father died in Fergus Falls Minnesota State Hospital, long before this type of disease was diagnosed and treated. It is hereditary, so we feel he died of the same thing, only because it was not treated. Check the death records online for his death and order his certificate. http://people.mnhs.org/dci/ Margit http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~maggiebakke/flom.html > Greetings Listers: > In the 1930 US Federal Census, I have found a person who is a good > possibility for my grandmother's brother, Bernard (he went by Ben) WAGNER. > Although I don't know of him ever being in trouble with the law, he is shown > as an inmate in the town of Anoka, MN in Anoka County. The facility is called > Anoka State Asylum---can anyone tell me if this was a regular prison or if it > was a mental asylum? Is it still in use and are there records on inmates that > might help me determine for sure if this is really my Bernard Wagner? Any > help would be appreciated!