“The Pryor Hospital in Chester burned to the ground this morning. It was known officially as the Pryor Sanitarium and was operated by Dr. S.W. Pryor. The loss is estimated to be between $30-35,000. There were 30 patients in the hospital, all of whom were taken safely to nearby homes. The building occupied by the nurses connected with the hospital by a covered passage way, was saved by city fireman. The adjoining residences of W.W. Coogler was badly damaged with the roof burned off and the residence of S.D. Cross was also considerably damaged. Dr. Pryor will have temporary quarters for the hospital in the Latimer residence on Wylie Street, in his own home, and at the Chester Sanatorium.”
City Directories and History: 1908 – Trained nurses at the hospital: Anne Bye, Charlotte Jackson, Minnie Jones, Helen Kelly, Mattie Laudermilk, Kathleen Mobley, Ada Richardson and Nonie Sanders
R&R HISTORY LINK: PRYOR HOSPITAL OF CHESTER SC
The Pryor – Magdalene Hospital located at this address was one of Chester’s earliest hospitals, named for the wife of the owner, Magdalene Pryor who lived with her family on the corner of Saluda and Hudson streets, at #103 Saluda Street.
Postcard view of the Magdalene Hospital on Saluda. This card was published by J.C. Patrick of Chester, S.C. Courtesy of the Chester Co Library
The Magdalene Hospital, from 1904-1916, was one of the few hospitals in the Chester area. it was built and operated by Stewart Wylie Pryor, M.D., and was one of the first in the region to offer x-ray equipment and to provide nurses training. The family later constructed the Pryor Hospital on York Street.
The hospital was destroyed by fire in 1916, after which Dr. Pryor began construction of his very modern hospital on York Street where it served citizens until the current county hospital was constructed in the 1940’s.
At the Magdalene Hospital yesterday evening there were 47 patients received from the wreck, and as there were already a considerable number of patients on hand the accommodations were taxed to handle this unexpected influx. Five nurses were sent down from Rock Hill from the Fennell Infirmary, and Misses Johnson, Wylie and Louise Murphy assisted the regular corps in attending to the injured. Miss E.A. Brady, superintendent of the Magdalene Hospital, has had several years of experience in her profession, two years of which were spent in a big railroad hospital, but she stated this morning that the scene presented last night when forty-seven patients were brought in at one time from one wreck was without parallel in her experience.
In this connection it might not be out of place to point to the advantages that ensue to the community from having such a hospital as Dr. Pryor’s Magdalene Hospital with its splendid equipment and able staff.
(Information in part from: Chester County Heritage Book, Vol. I, Edt. by Collins – Knox, Published by the Chester Co Hist. Society – Jostens Printing, 1982)
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R&R HISTORY LINK: FENNELL HOSPITAL IN ROCK HILL SC
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