Pestilence, Potions, and Persistence Early Florida Medicine

Early Hospitals


Health Resorts and Sanitariums

Health resorts and private sanitariums were popular in Florida since the beginning of the state's emergence as a tourist destination during the 1870s.

Battle Creek Inn

Battle Creek Inn (193-)

Image number: PR06997

The Battle Creek Inn was built during 1926-1927 by Curtiss/Bright Properties at a cost of $275,000. It opened as the Pueblo Hotel on December 15, 1927. The owner of the hotel, aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss, later sold the hotel to Dr. John Harvey Kellogg for $1 million to use as a health spa/resort [Hotel Country Club?]. It was later renamed Battle Creek Inn and reopened in 1930.

Florida Sanitarium and Hospital: Orlando

Florida Sanitarium and Hospital: Orlando (190-)

Image number: N036333

Board of Health Facilities, Marine Hospital Service, and Public Health Infrastructure

The State Board of Health established a bureau to oversee facilities such as quarantine wards for smallpox and yellow fever, regional clinics, and laboratory testing facilities across the state, although state-run facilities were never accessible for all Florida's citizens until after World War II. The Board opened wards for crippled children in 1912 in both St Luke's and Brewster Hospitals in Jacksonville.

United States Marine Hospital: Key West, Florida

United States Marine Hospital: Key West, Florida (1875)

Image number: RC05335

Prison farm hospital

Prison farm hospital (1914)

Image number: N032900

Williams/Shuey/Sessions house: Macclenny, Florida

Williams/Shuey/Sessions house: Macclenny, Florida (197-)

Image number: N034307

Florida A & M College university hospital: Tallahassee, Florida

Florida A & M College University Hospital: Tallahassee, Florida (1929)

Image number: N047207

Established in 1911 with 19 beds. For years the hospital was the only public facility for blacks. The hospital closed in 1971.

Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami

Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami (1918)

Image number: PR06799

Church Home & Hospital: Orlando, Florida

Church Home & Hospital: Orlando, Florida (ca. 1910)

Image number: Rc01511

St. Luke's Hospital: Jacksonville, Florida

St. Luke's Hospital: Jacksonville, Florida (1888)

Image number: rc08319

Director and nurses of Florida State Hospital in 1919: Chattahoochee, Florida

Director and nurses of Florida State Hospital in 1919: Chattahoochee, Florida (1919)

Image number: N029504

Back: Dr. W.M. Bevis, director; Miss Summerford, chief nurse; Miss Pearl Trammell. Front: Miss Willie Taylor; Miss Earhart.

Jackson Memorial Hospital: Miami, Florida

Jackson Memorial Hospital: Miami, Florida (1925)

Image number: Rc13066

Hospital facility: Marathon, Florida

Hospital facility: Marathon, Florida (19--)

Image number: Rc18085

Nurses gathered in front of Victoria Hospital: Miami, Florida

Nurses gathered in front of Victoria Hospital: Miami, Florida (19--)

Image number: Rc19098

Located at 955 N.W. 3rd Street, it was built in 1925.

Sacred Heart hospital during construction: Pensacola, Florida (ca. 1914)

Sacred Heart hospital during construction: Pensacola, Florida (ca. 1914)

Image number: Rc19180

Office of Dr. John Gordon DuPuis: Miami, Florida

Office of Dr. John Gordon DuPuis: Miami, Florida (1929)

Image number: rc19549

Group of men in front of Moseley's Drug Store: Madison, Florida

Group of men in front of Moseley's Drug Store: Madison, Florida (190-)

Image number: MA0191

From left: 2. B. F. Moseley 3. Dr. Alonzo Lashbrook Blalock.

Hospital patrol and supply wagons, in the field

Hospital patrol and supply wagons, in the field (1898)

Image number: N041304

Hospital at Fort Barrancas: Pensacola, Florida

Hospital at Fort Barrancas: Pensacola, Florida (ca. 1870)

Image number: N030766

Fort Barrancas was the last incarnation of a series of forts built on the same site in the Wilmington area of Pensacola. The fort was utilized during the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and the Second World War.

Small pox isolation hospital

Small pox isolation hospital (1905)

Image number: N032745

Dr. Joseph Y. Porter, first state health officer.