... In Vintage Postcards and Photos

America's first hospitals were only open to travelers and transients - by law.  Citizens who got sick were treated in their homes.  In 1829, the first public hospital in Memphis was established.  Like others of the period, It was meant for river travelers, but was replaced with a facility that, after being used as a military hospital during the Civil War, became the Memphis City Hospital.  The yellow fever epidemic of 1878 almost wiped Memphis off the map - with a death total higher than either the attack on Pearl Harbor or 9/11.  By 1920, perhaps because of all those years of living with yellow fever, Memphis had one of the largest medical complexes in America.  The University of Tennessee Colleges of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy moved to Memphis and merged with the Memphis Hospital Medical College and College of Physicians and Surgeons.  There were now the Baptist Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph's and Methodist Hospitals, as well as the Memphis General.

CITY HOSPITAL  The original Memphis General Hospital opening in 1829, was on Union Avenue,  and was owned by the State of Tennessee.   During the Civil War, it became a military hospital.  Afterwards, Tennessee gave ownership of the building to the city of Memphis and the hospital was re-named "City Hospital".  In 1898 the "City Hospital" pictured in the postcards was built on Madison Avenue and the old hospital building was demolished.  The grounds of that old building are now the site of Forrest Park. 

BAPTIST MEMORIAL HOSPITAL  The Baptist Memorial Hospital's origins date back to 1912 when the Southern Baptist Conventions of Mississippi, Tennessee, and Arkansas jointly opened Baptist Memorial Hospital in the Madison Avenue Memphis Medical Center.  On November 17, 2000, Baptist transferred its last 14 patients to other facilities, marking the closing of the 88 year old hospital.  The buildings were then demolished.   The current Baptist Memorial Hospital is a 706 bed medical facility located on Walnut Grove Road.  It was built in 1979 and is the flagship of Baptist Memorial Healthcare.  The former Madison Avenue Medical Campus has been redeveloped by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL  Saint Joseph Hospital was a Catholic-operated hospital at 220 Overton Avenue.  It was here that Martin Luther King Jr. was pronounced dead April 4, 1968.  The hospital was erected and operated by the Sisters of St. Francis in 1885.  It would eventually grow into a 1212 bed Medical Center.  In 1997 the hospital began a merger with Baptist Memorial Health Care.  The property and buildings were sold to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  All of them but one were subsequently demolished to make room for St. Jude's expansion.  The St. Joseph-Baptist merger was completed in 1998 and St. Joseph's last patients were transferred to Baptist in November 2000.

METHODIST HOSPITAL  Founded in 1918 by John M. Sherard, the Methodist Hospital has grown into Methodist Healthcare - the third largest not-for-profit hospital in the nation.  In 2000 Modern Healthcare magazine ranked Methodist Health Care, Memphis, as one of the top integrated healthcare networks in the nation, and the Methodist Memphis Hospitals has been named the Best Hospital in Memphis by U. S. News and World Report.  The hospital was cited as best in 12 medical specialties:  cancer, diabetes/endocrinology, ear/nose/throat, gastroenterology, geriatrics, gynecology, heart and heart surgery, kidney disorders, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonary and urology.

MEMPHIS MEDICAL SCHOOL  In 1911, five independent medical colleges located in Memphis joined together and formed the Memphis Medical School, soon becoming the University of Tennessee's College of Medicine.  Shortly thereafter, it becomes the largest in the U.S.

JOHN GASTON HOSPITAL  Before he died in 1912, John Gaston told his friends that wanted his mansion converted into a public hospital.  That didn't happen until the death of his wife in 1929.  Then the mansion was deemed too small for a decent hospital and it was demolished and the property was converted into Gaston Park.  The bulk of Gaston's fortune, supplemented by funds from the Public Works Administration, was then used to build a brand new city hospital in the Madison Avenue Medical District.  The John Gaston Hospital opened in 1936 and remained one of the city's busiest hospitals until it was demolished in 1990 to make way for the growth of "The Med".

MILITARY HOSPITALS

LE BONHEUR CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL  848 Adams . Founded in 1952, the Le Bonheur Children's Hospital offers primary level 1 pediatric trauma care, as well as a nationally recognized pediatric brain tumor program.  It serves more than 130,000 patients each year.  It is ranked as one of the nation's "Best Children's Hospitals".

CRIPPLED CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL  In 1917, ladies of the Calvary Episcopal Church went to Dr. Campbell, at the Campbell Clinic, to inquire about purchasing a wheelchair for a child.  Instead, Dr. Campbell encouraged them to establish a hospital.  Two years later the Crippled Children's Hospital opened and 35 patients were admitted the first year.  Throughout its sixty-three year existence, the hospital and school cared for many hundreds of children without any cost to their families.  Sold to Methodist Health Care in the 1970s.

ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL  Since 1974 St. Francis Hospital has been a leading Medical Center for Memphis.  The 515 bed facility was the first full-service hospital in East Memphis.  It was the first hospital to establish a Chest pain Emergency Center and the first in Memphis to establish a Stroke Emergency Center.

SANITARIUMS

MISCELLANEOUS ...

Hospital for Cripled Adults  .  The only one of it's kind in the world, devoted solely to the care and treatment of physically handicapped adults who are financially unable to provide for themselves.  It officially opened in 1923.

Home for Incurables  .  Founded by the King's Daughters and Sons of Tennessee, the home opened in 1908.  A new building was completed in 1912.  The institution provides  a home for persons afflicted with diseases pronounced incurable.

And...

  Memphis Hospital Memorabilia ...

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