The Waxahachie Sanitarium From article by Kim Mathis, This Was Ellis County Publication of the Waxahachie High School  Junior Historian Fifth Edition - 1981 In the early part of this century, due to ever increasing cotton industry, Waxahachie grew in size and wealth. It appeared that the town could provide the best and most modern facilities available at the time - everything except a modern medical facility. There were doctors and doctors' offices, but no place to take a seriously ill person if prolonged professional care was needed. For this reason, an enterprising group of men formed a company to establish a sanitarium. On June 4, 1912, a meeting was held in the office of Drs. W. C. Tenery and L. D. Parnell to elect officers of the company. Out of five directors, John B. George, W. W. Mincey, L. D. Parnell, W. C. Tenery and S. P. Spalding, there were elected officers: W. M. Mincey, President; John B. George, Vice President and W. C. Tenery, Secretary-Treasurer. The location of the building proved somewhat of a problem. The directors appealed in writing through the Waxahachie Daily Light for suitable locations.... but apparently none was found in 1912. Original plans were to erect a two-story brick building but the directors settled for a house on a plot of land on West Main Street near Chautauqua Park. The mule car line operated in front of the building for a few months before it was discontinued, but when the street cars began running, a car stop was only a short distance from the Sanitarium. The building was renovated with new paint and paper and the Sanitarium opened during the early part of September 1913. It was the private enterprise of Dr. Tenery and Dr. W. D. Boyd who were the attending surgeons. The house was apparently very large. The first floor contained offices, a laboratory. modern kitchen and a private apartment for the nurse, Mrs. Barnes. The operating room, an isolation room and three wards for patients were on the second floor. Entering through glass doors, one would first come to the sterilizing room and after that the operating room. Walls of the latter was finished in hard white enamel so that they might be flushed with boiling water periodically to try and keep the room as germ free as possible. The operating table was of white enamel, the instrument table glass topped and the instrument cases solid glass. Floors in all the rooms were covered with a high grade linoleum. The sanitarium was truly the best that money could buy in 1913 and was used until a three-story brick building replaced it. The directors honored the man who had worked hard to get the first hospital in Waxahachie by naming it W. C. Tenery Community Hospital.   Copyright © 2000-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:30:29 MDT