Hardy Sanitorium
| Hardy Sanitorium | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Established | 1900 |
| Current Status | Closed |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | 212 1st St, Ardmore, OK |
| Alternate Names | |
History[edit]
Founded and opened somewhere around 1898, the Hardy Sanitorium was named after is founder - Dr. Walter Hardy. The land was originally bought by Walter Hardy's parents in 1895. The original building sat at the corner of Caddo and Main streets and the sanitorium operated on the 2nd floor when it first opened with Ramsey's Drug on the 1st floor. The basement was home to the Dew Drop Inn, a notorious saloon for gunslingers an prostitutes. It is rumored there was also a network of tunnels running from the basement of this building, across the street to the nearby hotel and cafe.
It seems the Sanitorium was rebuilt at the same location after original building burnt down sometime in the early 1900s or 1910s.
Sometime before 1921 a new location was chosen for a newer, larger Hardy Sanitorium located at the corner of 1st SW and B Street.
In 1921, the sanitorium is reported to have had 60 1-bed rooms, with Dr Walter Hardy as the chief surgeon and Mrs Walter Hardy as the superintendent.
In 1924, the sanitorium is reported to have had the same 60 beds, 3 graduated nurses, 10 nurses currently in training, and 9 additional nurses without training.
The Hardy Sanitorium was closed down in 1955 when the Carter County Memorial Hospital was opened. It seems after years of neglect the building fell down, and was cleaned up and replaced by the new Ardmore Post Office.
Noteworthy additional information[edit]
In November 1930, Dr Hardys brother, Andrew Hardy was arrested on the accusation of murdering his wife with a shotgun shot to her face. Andrew Hardy had reported the killing as an accident, saying the gun fell and discharged as his wife drove their car on a hunting expedition. Andrew was however charged with murder when a nearby farmer, Mitch Ligon (a black man), reported to the police having seen Andrew chase down his wife in a field and shoot her. 30 days later while Andrew was awaiting trial, the deputy charged with investigating his case, Deputy Con Keirsey, was involved in a shoot out trying to apprehend 2 car thieves. Deputy Keirsey was taken to Hardy Sanitorium and died in the care of Dr Walter Hardy 10 hours later. In Feb of the following year, witness Mitch Ligon was shot and injured in a reported "spat with a friend over money", and another black man who was to testify in the trail would be found dead of drowning before the trail could begin. Andrew Hardy's trial finally began in the Spring of 1931 and attendence was the largest Cart County has seen for a trail. Ligon testified and Andrew declared he was a "lying negro". Andrew also denied allegations from his mother-in-law that was in love and having an affair with the Carter County Attorney's secretary. Another witness, Ms Viola Ross, was accused of being an untrustworthy witness by the defense because one of her children was reportedly fathered by a black man. Ms Ross' children were brought into court and paraded in front of the jurors, to show that one child had darker skin and black, wavy hair. State prosecutors would show that Andrew had taken out several life insurance policies on his wife just months before her death, that other nearby farm workers had heard a woman screaming before the shot, and that no blood-splatter or shotgun pellet marks were found inside the automobile. Prosecutors also presented several post office employees who claimed to have seen nude photographs of Andrew Hardy and the secretary, Edna Stewart, together. After four days of testimony, and in less than two hours of deliberations, the jury would come back with a Not Guilty verdict on Andrew Hardy.
