Allens Invalid Home
| Allens Invalid Home | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Opened | 1890 |
| Current Status | Demolished |
| Building Style | Single Building |
| Location | Milledgeville, GA |
| Alternate Names |
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History[edit]
1916 Description; This institution was opened by Dr. H.D. Allen in 1890, on the site of the old Oglethorpe University, which comprised 40 acres of land and a three-story brick building with 17 room and a large hall on the third floor. In 1891 a large house and 46 acres of land, about 150 yards distant from the original building, were purchased by Dr. Allen. This gave the institution two separate buildings, one for men and one for women, and this complete separation of the sexes has continued to the present time.
There have been built since 1891 an additional cottage for men and two buildings for women. Two hundred and fifty-three acres of land have been added to the original holdings, on which are grown a great variety of vegetables, etc., for the use of the institution.
At first only chronic incurable cases were received; the first two patients received in the early part of 1891, being still in the institution(1915). Afterwards acute cases were accepted, and this practice continues to the present time. Its is the endeavor of the Home to have a nurse with every acute casem and to give such cases every possible diversion that their physical condition warrants. There are no attempt made to employ patients other than what they themselves are inclined to do for their own occupation and amusement.
A training school under a charter was started in 1908, and three years later the first class graduated. Every year since then a similar class has graduated, and, with the exception of one nurse, all those graduated have continued in the service of the institution. The men nurses have never taken an interest in the training school. The men patients are attended by men nurses exclusively, and the women patients by women nurses. There are no women in the men's building. The average population in 50 patients, although as many as 65 have been in residence. Dr. H.D. Allen is superintendent and the assistant physician is Dr. W.A. Ellison.[1]
At its peak in 1920, a census showed 240 patients. Allen’s Sanitarium expanded to encompass 16 buildings, and it gradually acquired extensive tracts of the surrounding land, amassing a total of 120 acres. The property was neatly divided into North and South sections by a main road, effectively separating the Male and Female areas. In November of 1958, a group of physicians from central Georgia acquired Allen’s Invalid Home intending to repurpose it as a nursing home. They named the new establishment “Green Acres Health & Rehabilitation.” Over time, they began to divest portions of the former Sanitarium property, eventually constructing a modern nursing home behind the women’s building in 1962. By 1997, only the Administration building, which had also been Dr. Allen’s residence, remained on the site. Today, this historic property has been transformed and now houses two nursing homes, two trailer parks, a fire station, an apartment complex, and residences from the Midway community.
Images[edit]
References[edit]
- Jump up ↑ Hurd, Henry M., William F. Drewry, Richard Dewey, Charles W. Pilgrim, G. Alder Blumer and T.J.W. Burgess. The Institutional Care of the Insane in the United States and Canada. Vol. II. Baltimore, MD: The John Hopkins Press, 1916.
