North Carolina Sanatorium
|North Carolina Sanatorium|
|Building Style||Cottage Plan|
In 1908, the North Carolina State Sanatorium became the first state institution for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. Several private institutions, or resorts,
North Carolina Sanatorium
|North Carolina Sanatorium|
|Building Style||Cottage Plan|
In 1908, the North Carolina State Sanatorium became the first state institution for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. Several private institutions, or resorts, were operating in western North Carolina before that time but treatment was limited to those who could afford it. Dr. J. E. Brooks refused to accept that North Carolina citizens infected with the lung disease had no other option than to stay home and wait to die. As a state legislator in 1907, Brooks secured an appropriation of $15,000 to purchase land and build a sanatorium, and an additional $5,000 for maintenance.
The site chosen for the sanatorium is in present-day Hoke County between Aberdeen and Raeford. The fear of spreading the infection led to its construction some distance from the nearest town. The mild winters and summer breezes of the Sandhills region made it the ideal location for patients who often slept on enclosed porches ventilated by air “tempered and filtered by the sand and filtered and perfumed by the pines.” The sanatorium opened on April 4, 1908, with capacity for thirty-two patients. A division for African Americans was established in 1923, a division for prisoners in 1925, and a division for children in 1927. Eventually the sanatorium housed 650 beds. All North Carolina citizens unable to go to a private specialist could attend the sanatorium’s diagnostic clinic. However, the waiting list for a bed often was long and it could take nine or ten months for someone to b