Marker planned to honor county's historic hospitals
A marker noting the historical significance of the old hospitals on Richland Avenue will be unveiled Sunday during the Aiken County Historical Society's meeting.
On one side, the marker details the first Aiken Hospital, according to Aiken County Historical Society President Allen Riddick. On the other, it details the Aiken County Hospital.
After the unveiling, the marker will be placed by the stone wall fronting Richland Avenue West. Former employees of the hospitals have been invited to attend the meeting.
Built in 1917, the original hospital was heavily supported by many notable Winter Colony residents, including C.O. and Hope Goddard Iselin. Reportedly, Hope Goddard Iselin took her poker winnings and organized the Aiken Hospital and Relief Society after a church refused to accept her "ill-gotten gains."
The hospital closed in 1924 due to diminished monetary support. With the help of the Aiken County Legislative Delegation, the building was rented to Aiken County, and the hospital reopened in 1927.
The front half of the building, as seen today, has been standing since 1934, constructed with federal and Aiken County funds. Once the current structure was completed, the original hospital was demolished. The nurse's home was built to the west after that. The back half of the building, designed by the late prominent area architect Willis Irvin, was added on in 1948.
The County moved many of its offices into the building in the 1970s after Aiken Regional Medical Centers opened in 1976.
Aiken County offices will move out of the building and into the new complex when it is constructed on University Parkway. Once the structure is empty, it will be demolished and most likely returned to a greenfield site.
The meeting begins at 3 p.m. at the Aiken County Historical Museum, 435 Newberry St.
For more information of the Aiken County Historical Society, call Riddick at 649-6050.
Haley Hughes has spent five years as the Aiken County government reporter with the Aiken Standard. Hughes, a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, hails from Knoxville, Tenn.
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