Hospitals

Ashland Tuberculosis Hospital

Constructed from 1946 to 1948, the Ashland Tuberculosis Hospital serviced northeastern Kentucky with state-of-the-art inpatient facilities that combated the threat of that deadly disease. It operated for approximately 15 years before the threat of the disease diminished due to modern medicine and treatments. A pair of crosses adorned the entrance to the hospital, the symbol for the Kentucky Tuberculosis Association and later the American Lung Association.

Denmar Sanitarium

Established in 1938 in rural eastern West Virginia as Denmar Sanitarium for the tuberculotic colored people, it became the Denmar State Hospital in 1957 by an act of the Legislature for the chronically ill. Situtated at 2,200 feet above sea level, Denmar overlooks the Greenbrier River.

Eastern State Hospital

Eastern State Hospital is the second-oldest psychiatric facility in the United States, and the first west of the Appalachian Mountains, and is located in Lexington, Kentucky. It is proposed that the campus be relocated to the Coldstream Research center along Newtown Pike.

Hayswood Hospital

Resting atop Market Street in the historic river town of Maysville, Kentucky, the former Hayswood Hospital overlooks the central business district and affords beautiful views of the Ohio River and the Simon Kenton Bridge.

Huntington State Hospital

Once notoriously noted for its extreme overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, the Huntington State Hospital is now a 110-bed mental facility and is an on-site training facility for area colleges and universities in West Virginia.

John Graves Ford Memorial Hospital

Formerly standing as a derelict on the west side of Georgetown, Kentucky for decades, the John Graves Ford Memorial Hospital contained a glimpse into the past on the inside. Documents, gurneys, betaline dispensers and more lay strewn about inside. The dark and damp corridors, lined with patient beds and equipment, were demolished in 2007.

Man Community Hospital

At the time of an initial walkaround, the Man Community Hospital had only been closed a few scant years. It has since reopened.

Manteno State Hospital

Construction began in 1927 to help with the Chicago area overcrowding of mental institutions, at the time of its opening was one of the largest in the nation.

Metro General Hospital

Metro General Hospital, formerly serving many of the underprivileged in Nashville, Tennessee, merged with George W. Hubbard Hospital due to a major glut of patient rooms in the region. Today, the former hospital site is undergoing revitalization. While much of the campus was demolished, three primary and historic buildings were spared the wrecking ball and are being gutted for repurposing. The Rolling Hill Mill development, so named for the corn mills that were once located in the area, will convert the former hospital site into a mixed use community on the banks of the Cumberland River. With the land being very close to downtown Nashville, it is hoped that this once landmark institution can continue to serve the city well into the 21st century.

Mountain State Hospital

What was a relatively small hospital in the capital city of Charleston, West Virginia at Corner of Virginia and Morris Street, was closed in 1999 and demolished in 2005, leaving no traces of its past.

Paris Tuberculosis Hospital

Constructed from 1946 to 1948, the Paris Tuberculosis Hospital serviced the Paris, Kentucky region for about 15 years before the threat of the disease finally diminished. Similar buildings were constructed across the state in smaller cities such as Ashland and Owensboro.

Portland Marine Hospital

The Portland Marine Hospital is undergoing interior renovations in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. The last of its kind of the nation, it once addressed the health needs of seaman on the Western inland waterways and was a prototype for others across the country. After many decades of disuse, its exterior was renovated to its 1900-era appearance. Work still continues on this grand three-story structure with the hope that it can become a museum and a place of 'medicine and health education'.

River Valley Hospital

River Valley Hospital, formerly known as the Lawrence County General Hospital, was located in Ironton, Ohio and was constructed in 1937. The facility was demolished in 2007 after several years of disuse.

Silvercrest Sanatorium

Silvercrest Sanatorium was a hospital in New Albany, Indiana for those riddled with tuberculosis, a deadly disease that infiltrated Southern and Mid-Atlantic in an area called the "black belt." Tuberculosis was mostly treatable with antibiotics by the 1970s, resulting in mass closures of the sanatoriums. Silvercrest was reused as a disabled children's development center before closing in 2006. It is slated to be restored as an elderly care facility.

Southeastern Kentucky Baptist Hospital

The Southeastern Kentucky Baptist Hospital, formerly known as the Corbin Municipal Hospital, was located in Corbin, Kentucky. The facility closed in 1984 and was demolished in 2008.

The Medical Center at Scottsville

Abandoned in 1996, this ghastly former hospital in Scottsville, Kentucky leaves little behind but memories.

Veterans Memorial Hospital

The Veterans Memorial Hospital in Pomeroy, Ohio opened on September 20, 1962 and was dedicated to the memory of Meigs County veterans. The hospital closed in 2001 and is currently used for storage.

Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Hospital

Waverly Hills was constructed in 1926 as a tuberculosis hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, however, modern advances in medicine deemed the center obsolete by 1961. It reopened two years later as the Woodhaven Geriatrics Center, an elderly home, but was finally closed in 1981. Today, it is being renovated through the assistance of donations.

Weston State Hospital

It seems as if Weston State Hospital in Weston, West Virginia is seeing some daylight at the end of its dark and rather stormy past. From a Civil War that held up construction to fires and extreme overcrowding, the once 'remote' asylum for the insane in now stands essentially frozen in suspended animation. Recent renovations have stabilized the roof and improvements are being considered to restore the large hospital into a 'National Museum of the Civil War', among other uses.