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ANON22
Joined: 10 Jan 2008
Posts: 81
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 Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:54 pm Post subject: South Mountain Restoration Center |
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| What was the South Mountain Restoration Center used for when it was first built? I didn't think it was always a nursing home. |
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armed_citizen
Joined: 27 Oct 2007
Posts: 225
Location: Chambersburg, PA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 5:04 pm Post subject: |
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From the PA DCNR website:
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The early years of the Pennsylvania Bureau of State Parks was a time of development as the conservation ethic grew in the people of the United States. In 1901, the Commission of Forestry was formed and Joseph T. Rothrock was appointed the commissioner. A medical doctor and forester, Rothrock created camps in state forest reservations for people with tuberculosis and respiratory illnesses to live in the open air. Forestry became a department in 1905.
In 1902, the Commonwealth purchased a resort owned by the Mont Alto Iron Company. Mont Alto State Forest Park had picnic facilities, swimming pool, refreshment stand and hiking trails. The pavilion in the photo housed a carousel.
Rothrock established the South Mountain Camp Sanitorium at Mont Alto. The open air cure camps were so successful that the program was turned over to the Department of Health in 1907.
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The center was opened as a tuberculosis sanitorium in 1901. After the takeover by the Dept. of Health, it served as a state hospital before becoming a 'restoration center'.
A book detailing the history of the facility can be purchased from the state here (cost is $5).
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Bobo
Joined: 22 Oct 2007
Posts: 173
Location: Chambersburg
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, it was a TB sanitarium for many years. People with TB went there to take "the cure" - which essentially was the fresh mountain air.
My mother remembers visiting her cousins and uncle there during the 1940s. To this day, she still has positive TB skins tests (although she doesn't have TB).
Much has been written about the South Mountain facility. It's fascinating. I think it, and other sanitariums like it, would make good fodder for a Ken Burns PBS special.
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The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands. ~Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life, 1923 |
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AnonyMouse
Joined: 22 Oct 2007
Posts: 440
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| Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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| armed_citizen wrote: |
A book detailing the history of the facility can be purchased from the state here (cost is $5). |
I found that book in a local waiting room once, and read nearly half of it before my appointment (long wait). It was fascinating. It is written by a local girl who worked at South Mountain. |
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older
Joined: 11 Apr 2008
Posts: 1
Location: Hialeah, FL
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| Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 5:26 pm Post subject: South Mountain |
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Back in the late 40's I was a patient at the South Mountain Sanatorium as a TB patient. Does anyone know what happened to the medical records from the Sanatorium? Are the archived in some state department?
Thanks for any and all help.
Older
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Walter Ward |
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Mister Me
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Posts: 212
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:05 am Post subject: Re: South Mountain |
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| older wrote: | Back in the late 40's I was a patient at the South Mountain Sanatorium as a TB patient. Does anyone know what happened to the medical records from the Sanatorium? Are the archived in some state department?
Thanks for any and all help.
Older |
You will at this point most likely find those records at the William Penn museum, whichis where most state institutional records are kept. Unless that has changed. |
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urbanrevivals
Joined: 08 May 2008
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Thu May 08, 2008 8:25 am Post subject: My mother was there in the 40's too |
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Dear Older, My mother, Dorothy, was admitted from 1946-1949 as a hot TB case. She recovered, and now lives in Asheville NC after being a nurse for a while, and raising my sister and me. She was only 13 when admitted. Perhaps you know her. If so, please private message me (the PM button on here) and, if you'd like, you can talk about those times. She has told me a lot about the place lately.
Cheryl |
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Jelsey
Joined: 30 May 2008
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:54 am Post subject: |
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If you get a chance, drive on up and check it out. It's architecture alone is worth the drive.
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