The first superintendent at the Iowa Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children (now Glenwood State Hospital-School) was O. W. Archibald, a medical doctor who came here from the Hospital for the Insane in Mt. Pleasant.

Archibald was here when the first resident was admitted Sept. 4, 1876. After 86 other patients were received that first year, the superintendent recognized the need for a school. He hired a principal and two teachers.

Accommodations at the institution were crude in those early days. Food was prepared on an old cook stove, and only a few loaves of bread could be baked at a time. Laundry and ironing were done by hand. Heat was provided by room heaters, light by kerosene lamps, and water came from cisterns and a well in Glenwood.

When Archibald severed his connection with the institution May 24, 1882, a successor, Dr. F. M. Powell, was appointed immediately. During his 21 years of service, Powell oversaw the building of two large cottages, a water tower, a hospital, a central main building and a bake shop that provided bread for the entire institution. The building above was originally a hospital which had a lab, X-ray machine and pharmacy department. Now known as 115 Lacey, the building now houses Area 1 and is undergoing many renovations.