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JN Adam History
Most of this information is courtesy of
the Friends of
JN Adam website, at www.jnadam.org.
I strongly recommend looking at their site to see a more detailed
account of history, as well as view letters from former patients,
and to sign the petition to try to save these beautiful buildings,
I can't stress that enough.
Additionally, a few historical photos can
be found at the webpage documenting
John Hopper Coxhead's life. I highly recommend checking them
out.
The planning for the JN Adam hospital began in 1910, when the purchase
of land for a new Tuberculosis treatment hospital was granted. The
location of Perryburg was chosen as an ideal location for the placement
of Buffalo's hospital, as it fulfilled the requirements for patient
treatment.
In the late 1800's, Doctor Alexander Spengler was experiencing
success treating tuberculosis patients in the Swiss Alps by providing
them with plenty of rest, fresh air, and good nutrition. They stayed
in bed all day, and wore fur clothing to stay warm, as they spent
their time outdoors. This theory was based on the observation that
while tuberculosis had been around for a long time, it only became
a problem upon the onset of the industrial revolution, where people
were not getting fresh air, and immune systems were weakened. The
principle still holds true today, as in the UK, London's rate is
three times higher than the national rate. Spengler's treatment
showed positive results, and thus was the model for the Perrysburg
hospital.
Doctor John H. Pryor, one of the men overseeing the construction
of the hospital, had this to say about the site.
The Perrysburg Hospital site was selected as an ideal
Site for a Tuberculosis Hospital, because it fulfills practically
all of the requirements. These requirements are altitude, nature
of soil, protection from prevailing winds, contour of land for sewage,
railroad facilities, considerable distance from city, water supply,
roads to reach the hospital, grounds for walks and light work, some
farm land for grazing and raising vegetables ...The altitude of
the hospital is surprisingly high for this part of the country,
being 1450 feet above sea level and only 100 feet lower than the
Adirondack Sanatorium. The wind protection afforded by the dense
woodland is ample. The view is magnificent.
It was Pryor's decision to employ John Hopper Coxhead as the architect,
who's fame came from Buffalo's Delaware Avenue Baptist Church. This
was Coxhead's second hospital, after designing a hospital in Jamestown,
NY in 1909. Unique features that Coxhead included in the hospital
were large verandas and overhangs, so patients could sleep outside
without fear of inclement weather, as well as giving each room French
doors rather than windows so the patients beds could easily be pushed
out onto the veranda.
The dining room was built to be opulent and magestic, rising two
and a half stories in a domed structure, capped with a magnificent
oculus taken from the Temple of Music from the 1901 Pan-American
Exposition in Buffalo, the building William McKinley was assassinated
in.
The hospital opened on September 13, 1912 with great ceremony.
The opening of the hospital was front-page news, with Buffalo Mayor
Louis P. Fuhrmann and Doctor Pryor both attending.
The hospital provided great and tender care for the patients. On
the Friends of JN Adams site linked at the top of this page, you
can read stories of patients and their memories of the place. This
was less like a hospital and more like a community. With some regret,
however, 48 years later, the community no longer served the purpose
it once did. Treatment requiring rest and fresh air fell out of
favour with treatment using drugs becoming the new standard. JN
Adam was converted into a educational facility for mentally handicapped
children.
The buildings survived in this capacity until 1995, when, such
as with many mental health buildings in the northeast, institutionalization
for the mentally challenged had fallen out of favour, and JN Adam
was abandoned except for some minor administrative purposes for
a few more years.
Today, proposals have come and gone for the site, including the
most recent being a proposal for a logging
camp that was fought by the Friends of JN Adam and was subsequently
not accepted. The buildings have tremendous historical value, and
it is important that whatever becomes of them repairs and maintains
the current buildings, rather than just razing them and starting
new. For now though, it simply sits unoccupied, sitting over the
small town of Perrysburg as a reminder of the important role this
small community played in the treatment of a deadly disease.
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