Image Gallery 1: Railroad Hospital Postcards
“Having a great time – wish you were here!”
You probably wouldn’t write that sentiment during a hospital stay, but it’s unlikely you would be sending a postcard from the hospital anyway. Today, picture postcards usually depict scenic vistas or popular tourist attractions. One seldom finds postcards of hospitals in the racks at souvenir shops. But hospital postcards were very common in the early 20th century. Photographs of railroad hospitals are rare and hard to find, so postcards provide an important historical record of these facilities. See the links at the bottom to learn more about the history of postcards.
Since these are postcards, some show writing, postal markings or damage. Image quality is usually limited due to the inexpensive printing techniques used.
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe (“ Santa Fe”)
Santa
Fe Hospital, Clovis , NM
Santa Fe Hospital, Ft. Madison, IA
Santa Fe Hospital, Los Angeles, CA
Santa Fe Hospital, Los Angeles, CA, dated 1941
Santa Fe Hospital, Mulvane, KS"
Santa Fe Hospital, Temple , TX. Early view – notice the later view below, in which wings
have been added to each side. Today this building is part of the Scott and White medical center.
Santa Fe Hospital, 600 South 25th St., Temple , TX
Santa Fe Hospital, Topeka , KS, built 1898-99. This is the original building.
This series of pictures illustrates the growth of the facility.
Santa Fe Hospital, Topeka , KS. Another view of the original 1898-99 building.
Santa Fe Hospital, Topeka , KS. If you compare this view with the one above it,
you can see that a new wing has been added on the right side of the picture.
Santa Fe Hospital, Topeka , KS. Compared to the previous picture, the add-on wing is intact
but in 1953 the original 1898-99 building was demolished and replaced with the new building
on the left. Note the cars in the parking lot.
Santa Fe Hospital, Topeka , KS. Yet another addition has been built over the site of the parking lot.
Postmarked 1971.
Chesapeake and Ohio (“C&O”)
C&O Hospital, Clifton Forge, VA, a beautiful structure. This is purely conjecture, but the building
may have been a private mansion originally. (Hospitals at that time often started out in private homes).
The section in the rear looks like a later addition designed to complement the original architecture.
Postmarked 1917.
C&O Hospital, Clifton Forge, VA, another view of the same building.
C&O Hospital, Clifton Forge, VA. The hospital has been replaced with a stately pillared building,
and there is no trace of the earlier building with the turret.
C&O Hospital, Clifton Forge, VA. The pillared hospital building shown on the previous picture is in the distant left.
A new building, the nurses home, has been added and appears in the foreground.
C&O Hospital, Huntington, WV
Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG)
Denver & Rio Grande Hospital, Salida, CO
Denver & Rio Grande Hospital, Salida, CO
D&RG Hospital, Salida, CO. On this view a new wing appears on the left.
This is attached to the back of the original building shown in the previous two pictures.
The original building is easily identified by the porch pillars and twin roof vents.
D&RG Hospital, Salida, CO. Staff posting in front of the
original hospital building in 1895. Note the fountain behind them.
Florida East Coast (FEC)
Florida East Coast Hospital, St. Augustine, FL
FEC Hospital, St. Augustine, FL, with annotations by a patient in 1910. Notice the separate
“white ward” and “Italian ward,” sad reminders of the racial segregation of the era.
Illinois Central (IC)
Illinois Central Hospital , 5800 Stony Island Ave., Chicago, IL.
This hospital continued to operate until 2000 as Doctors Hospital of Hyde Park.
Illinois Central Hospital, Paducah, KY. The purpose of the mound-like structure on the right is unknown.
Illinois Central Hospital, Paducah, KY, a completely different, perhaps newer, building.
International and Great Northern
International and Great Northern Hospital, Palestine, TX
Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT or “Katy”)
MKT Hospital, Denison, TX
MKT Hospital, Denison, TX
MKT Hospital, Parsons, KS
MKT Hospital, Sedalia, MO. Postmarked 1911.
MKT Hospital, Sedalia, MO. Postmarked 1908.
Missouri Pacific
The Missouri Pacific Hospital has its own page.
Northern Pacific
Northern Pacific Hospital, Brainerd, MN
Northern Pacific Hospital, Glendive, MT
Northern Pacific Hospital, Missoula, MT
Northern Pacific Hospital, Missoula, MT
Northern Pacific Hospital, Tacoma, WA
St. Louis San Francisco Railway (much better known as the “Frisco”)
Frisco
Hospital, 4960 Laclede Ave., St. Louis, MO
As of 2007, still in use, now as the Parkside Tower Nursing Home.
St. Louis Southwestern Railroad (much better known as the “Cotton Belt”)
Cotton Belt Hospital, Texarkana, TX-AR (Texarkana sits right on the border of Texas and Arkansas
and is part of both states. It’s not clear which side the railroad hospital was on.)
Cotton Belt Hospital, Texarkana, TX-AR
Cotton Belt Hospital, Texarkana, TX-AR
Southern Pacific
Southern Pacific Hospital, Sacramento, CA (originally Central Pacific Hospital). The very first railroad hospital!
Southern Pacific Hospital, Sacramento, CA
Southern Pacific Hospital (“The Sunset Hospital”), Houston, TX. Vintage view.
Southern Pacific Hospital, Houston, TX in 2001 as the Thomas Street Health Center,
part of the Harris County Hospital District.
Southern Pacific Hospital, Tucson, AZ, a tuberculosis sanitarium.
Texas and Pacific
Texas and Pacific Hospital, Marshall, TX
Wabash
Wabash Hospital, Decatur, IL. Early photo with very young trees.
Wabash Hospital, Decatur, IL. Notice how much the trees have grown in this later photo.
Wabash Hospital, Moberly, MO
Wabash Hospital, Peru, IN
Next: Image Gallery 2 - Other Images Back to Image Gallery Main Page
Outside Links
Follow these links to learn more about the history of postcards. The links are not associated with The Railway Surgery Museum website.
§ Hospital postcards were so ubiquitous in the past that the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston has a collection of over 5000 of them!
§ A collector’s history of postcards in general: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/2487/pchistory.htm
§ Another general postcard history: http://www.emotionscards.com/museum/historyofpostcards.htm
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