First Starbuck Hospital
Text exerpted from the newsletter of the Pope County Historical Society, Feb 2002
The first Starbuck Hospital was built in 1899 and at one time was the only hospital between Minneapolis, MN, and Fargo, ND. The two and one half-story frame structure is rectangular in shape and built so that its two street facades are immediately adjacent to the sidewalk.
The hospital building is significant for its association with early medical practice in Pope County, and as a surviving example of early medical facilities erected in small western Minnesota communities as the individual practices of frontier physicians developed into more institutional organizations.
The hospital was built by, Dr. C.R. Christensen, who came to Starbuck in 1896 after receiving a medical degree from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Christensen once lectured at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Christensen was considered a peer of the Mayo Brother despite his remote medical practice. Primarily Christensen used the Starbuck Hosptial building, but doctors came from Glenwood and other communities to use the facility since these communities didn't have hospitals.
Early Pope County doctors practiced medicine through house calls. For such services as surgeries, people often had to travel hundreds of miles. The Starbuck Hospital provided that advanced care close to home in a properly outfitted facility.
By 1911, the hospital had become so successful and treated so many patients that a larger, more modern hospital was built. Again in 1977, the Starbuck medical facility was upgraded with a new building. The current Minnewaska District Hospital continues to adapt with the times today.
The 1899 hospital is in dire need of major repairs if it is to be preserved. Potential re-use ideas include a gift shop, craft classrooms, a kitchen for lefse making classes, souvenir shop, ice-cream parlor or perhaps office spaces. Perhaps it could even be support space for Starbuck's current healthcare needs.
The first Pope County hospital certainly speaks to the tradition of a strong medical facility for the community of Starbuck. Dr Christensen's strong local presence and the placement of the first Starbuck Hospital building in the heart of downtown Starbuck have resulted in a continuing local awareness of quality home town medical care.
The building was placed on the National Historical Register in 1982. In 2001 the building was also placed on the Preservation Alliances list of the 10 Most Endangered Historical Properties in Minnesota. Currently Project Starbuck is working on grants on other funding to save this beautiful and historic building.
