The Franklin County Hospital for Tuberculosis operated at the corner of Alum Creek Drive and Frebis Avenue from 1909 to 1972. The architects were Howard and Merriam. The hospital was designed to have a capacity of 100 beds and at some point housed 120 beds. The building was estimated to cost $80,000. In 1946 William L. Potts, MD served as the medical director. The hospital was planned to house patients in all stages of the disease and was one of the first buildings of this type designed to contain wards for children suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.
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The 77-acre military post known today as Fort Hayes was originally built and used as a federal arsenal to store and repair Ordinance Corps arms and to equip Ohio regiments called to duty during the Civil War. The land for Fort Hayes was purchased from Robert and Jannette Neil on February 17, 1863. The Neil’s were members of the same Neil family from whom the land to build The Ohio State University was later purchased.
The military base was called The Columbus Barracks from 1905 to December 1922, when it was named after Ohio governor and later president Rutherford B. Hayes.
Post Hospital (also known as Post Military Hospital) was part of the Columbus Barracks and opened in 1891, operating until about 1946.
Ohio State Penitentiary (Ohio Penitentiary Hospital)
Built in 1834, the Ohio Penitentiary was actually the second Ohio Penitentiary, the third state prison, and the fourth jail in early Columbus. Prison Hospital was a part of the upper corridor of the city prison and was set aside as a hospital by Prison Director Davis in 1900. In April 1955 it housed an all-time high of 5,235 prisoners. Most prisoners were removed from the prison by 1972 with the completion of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, and the facility was closed December 31, 1983. The state sold the Ohio Penitentiary to the City of Columbus in 1995. The 23-acre site, bounded by Maple, West and Spring Streets and Neil Avenue, is now part of the Nationwide Arena complex.
Grant Hospital, c.1904
Dr. James F. Baldwin began Grant Hospital in 1900 as a private hospital to serve the growing middle class. Three additions were added to the original building from 1904-1914. By 1904, Grant Hospital was considered the largest private hospital in the world with a bed count of 303.
Protestant Hospital in 1898
After outgrowing its original location on Dennison Avenue, Protestant Hospital moved to a new facility at 700 North Park Street in 1898. The site consisted of a large five-story building and was incorporated March 18, 1891 by the Methodist Episcopal Church. Because the Ohio Medical University (1892-1907) financially supported the hospital after its relocation, the University was given a perpetual lease for clinical privileges.
Protestant Hospital was renamed White Cross Hospital in 1922. Eventually modernization caught up with the physical aspects of the hospital and this site was abandoned in 1961 as its successor Riverside Methodist Hospital opened on Olentangy River Road. The Protestant/White Cross Hospital building was demolished in 1970. This location on Park Street is now a residential complex, Victorian Gate Condominiums.
*Please note that the water in the foreground of the image is the lake at Goodale Park, on the corner of Buttles Avenue and Park Street.
Mercy Hospital, c. 1920
South Side Emergency Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Columbus Community Hospital
South Side Emergency Hospital opened March 17, 1903 in a large house at 1522 South High Street at Welch started by a doctor and several laymen. They abandoned the effort but the residents of the area saw the need for a hospital to serve the south side of Columbus and they pushed ahead with plans to establish a permanent facility. In early 1904, twenty ladies organized a nonprofit corporation. A charter was established authorizing its operation and establishing a school of nursing. Mercy Hospital opened March 1, 1904 with four doctors, one nurse and one patient. During 1907, the School of Nursing graduated its first class and a decision was made to begin fund raising efforts for a new, larger facility. Money was raised to purchase a new permanent building at 1430 South High Street. The new facility opened in 1910 and was expanded in 1930. A medical office building was constructed in 1958. In 1970 new buildings replaced the old building. Mercy Hospital was renamed Columbus Community Hospital in 2001 and closed later that year for financial reasons. In 2002 it was reopen as an urgent care facility named Urgent Care Plus and in 2011 still functions as such.
St. Anthony's Hospital, c.1910s
St. Anthony’s opened in 1890 under the direction of the Sisters of the Poor of St. Francis. The hospital was located at Hawthorne Street and Taylor Avenue (site of present day Ohio State University Hospital East). There were accommodations for over 200 long-term critically-ill patients, with no inside rooms. In 1904 an additional floor was added. In 1939 a 3-story wing increased bed capacity to 270.
Children's Hospital, 1924
Hospitals for children began to appear in the United States in the late 1800s. Members of the King’s Daughters of St. Paul Episcopal Church initiated the movement to secure a children’s hospital in Columbus in 1891.
The first Children’s Hospital building opened February 1, 1891. The prevailing color scheme was blue and white, carried out in staff uniforms, chinaware, linens, bedding, etc. Originally Children’s Hospital included four beds. Six more were added almost immediately. The hospital was open to patients between the ages of one and sixteen; no patient could stay longer than three months; and no cases of infectious disease were accepted.
Eventually, the hospital outgrew its original building and moved to new facilities in 1924 at 17th and Stone Streets, fronting Livingston Park. The hospital still exists although as a much larger facility and is now Nationwide Children’s Hospital. It is home to the Department of Pediatrics of The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
St. Clair Hospital building, c. 1990s
Built in 1911, St. Clair Hospital focused on serving Pennsylvania Railroad workers and their families. It was constructed by the St. Clair Company and incorporated under the laws of Ohio. The hospital also maintained a nursing school with a 2.5 years training program.
Located on St. Clair Avenue north of Mt. Vernon Avenue, the five-story building housed 30 beds and 2 operating rooms. Due to industrial changes in Columbus, the hospital was not needed and closed in 1940.
Doctors Hospital became the first osteopathic hospital in Columbus in 1939. It was started by three osteopathic physicians. Through the efforts of the Women’s Auxiliary in 1941, steam food conveyors were installed, soundproofing was added to the first and second floors and the old iron beds were replaced. Several buildings were added to the original house from 1944 through the 1960s.
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