Isolation Hospital by Pete Zizka article 1 of 3 3-26-2020 |
By November,1911,
just as the worst of the typhoid fever outbreak was abating, the
small pox epidemic was growing. The “New York Times” ran an article
saying that cases of smallpox were especially bad among people who
worked in mills. The towns of Warwick and Coventry Rhode Island were
mentioned. By early 1912, Willimantic citizens were beginning to be
stricken in such numbers that in April, Mayor Dunn, along with city
aldermen and the corporation counsel decided that Willimantic needed an
isolation hospital. Several
locations for the hospital, including the Center Street Armory and an
exhibition hall at the Fairgrounds were considered. Strong objections
were made in regards to the Fairgrounds building which did not have the
proper sanitary requirements. Objections to the Center Street Armory was
that it was in a highly populated area. At that point, Alderman Ahern
mentioned “ a large dwelling house on Pleasant Street at the west end.
The alderman and the city health officer went to the house and
,”returned highly pleased with what they found”.
It contained fourteen rooms and the health officer, Doctor
Keating felt that fifty to seventy-five people could be cared for at
that location. The South Windham man who owned the building , John
Holden, generously offered his house for that purpose “and gave the keys
to Mayor Dunn with the request that the house be used as long as it was
needed”. That night, the aldermen adopted two resolutions, one thanking
Mister Holden in the name of the city; the other instructing Mayor Dunn
to make the necessary arrangements. The sum of two thousand dollars was
appropriated for the preparations with the expectation that it be opened
for use, “in a few days”. The next day, voters in the city approved five
thousand dollars more, “to use in coping with the smallpox situation”.
These were the days before HIPAA regulations and so “The Chronicle” and
other newspapers dutifully reported the name and sometimes the
background story, of each
new smallpox sufferer. One story speaks of Joseph C... who had been seen
,”around the streets with his face all broken out”. The health officer
went in search of him and “hustled him back to his house and quarantined
the home. There is a wife and two children. None of them have the
disease so far. He is a brother of Elizabeth C... who was quarantined at
the home of her parents Monday night.” This week’s photo shows the rear
of the Isolation Hospital on Pleasant Street. (to be continued)
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week’s photo or article, please e-mail us at “threadcity@outlook.com”.
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