When prominent local physician and surgeon Dr. Samuel Souders built this magnificent hospital in 1909, it was considered “state-of-the-art.” Amenities included a central heating system, wide doorways and hallways, an elevator, and private telephones in patients’ rooms. The operating room featured white enameled walls and a white marble tile floor, then considered the best surfaces for sterilization. The Craftsman style facility follows a domestic floorplan common in period hospital construction and could accommodate thirty to fifty patients. Although a large classical style front porch, balcony, and covered ambulance entrance were removed in the 1940s, the splendid building endures as a significant element of the district.
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