H: Hospitals


This is the historic McHugh House in Fort Collins, also known as the "House of the Mayors," because, ta-daa, a couple of mayors once lived there. (Now it houses a fly fishing shop.) Construction began in 1885 but was not completed until 1888. The second owner added a carriage house behind. Two later owners, Jessie Harris and Peter J. McHugh, were the mayors in question. McHugh was also a doctor and converted the carriage house into a hospital. The carriage house is still standing, too:


Fast forward a few years to 1925, when our modern hospital system began as The Larimer County Hospital. It had 40 beds and sat adjacent to 40 acres of farm- and ranchland. After World War II, the capacity more than doubled to 86 beds. In the 1960s, the hospital was renamed Poudre Valley Memorial Hospital and started growing by leaps and bounds. "Memorial" was dropped from the name in 1982, resulting in what we residents call PVH. I decided to include it in this year's A to Z because I was born there (back in the "Memorial" era), and so were both my boys. Yeah, I'm sentimental like that.

The "old" side


The "new" side





Comments

liz young said…
Nasty horrible square blocks do not inspire me with the confidence of the old-fashioned cottage hospitals. Illogical, I know!
Susan Scott said…
So great to get a glimpse into another place thank you and extra great to have your son assist you with this!
Great post -
SueH said…
We have an old Victorian hospital in town, but a brand new mega-hospital about 14 miles away - each does sterling service. I'd rather be in the modern one for an acute case, but if I had to be hospitalised for any length of time I'd prefer to be in the local one - it has views across the fields and open country; the other is slap bang next to a noisy motorway! I often wonder what the planners are thinking when they build these new ones!

Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier - hope you are enjoying this year's A-Z!

SueH I refuse to go quietly!

Twitter - @Librarymaid
Unknown said…
Older stone buildings have character. They're interesting. Steel and glass and concrete, not so much.
Wonderful blog! I love your theme...I am a CO girl. I even lived in Ft. Collins for a few years (I'm in Denver now) but I still go up to visit every so often. I love Ft. Collins. It is such a beautiful city. Looking forward to more posts. -Rebecca (from Moxiewriters.blogspot.com)
DL Shackleford said…
Great blog! Old buildings with history and character win over modern architecture any day.
Susan Kane said…
"Memorial" was always part of our old hospital's title, as well.

Enjoying your blog posts!

Susan @thecontemplativecat.blogspot
Hi, there! Visiting back from A to Z, and think you have a marvelous blog! My best friend when I started my new job in Oregon after college was from Ft. Collins! So I had a heart connection already; the pictures are fascinating! Thanks for sharing!
Elaine www.spontaneoussputterings.blogspot.com
D.E. Malone said…
Love those old buildings. I'll have to steer my husband to that fly shop the next time we're visiting family in Denver. Great post!
Unknown said…
It is very cool that you and your son are exploring and documenting the story of your town through the A to Z challenge. Great idea!. God bless, Maria from Delight Directed Living
Sharon Himsl said…
Hospitals have such interesting history. You can just hear the stories they tell.

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