Vacant Hospital in GA closed since 1975

Riegel Hospital, Trion Georgia

Date added: November 23, 2023 Categories: Georgia Hospital

The town of Trion developed as a mill village surrounding the Trion Manufacturing Company cotton mill. The company, established in 1845, employed the majority of the residents in the area and provided services for its employees as well as the community at large, including providing a hospital for medical care. Riegel Hospital was constructed in 1934 by the Trion Company to enhance the welfare of the company's employees and the greater community, including the African-American community in a segregated section of the building until the mid-1960s. This section consisted of two rooms with three beds and was accessed by a separate rear entrance in the northwest corner on the first floor, but was remodeled later for a dentist's office. Named in respect for Benjamin D. Riegel, president of the Trion Company from 1912-1941 and considered Trion's greatest benefactor, Riegel Hospital was later operated by the Trion Community Foundation, a non-profit arm of the company, chartered for the promotion of health, education, recreation, civic improvement, and charities for the Trion community. The hospital operated continuously until 1975 at which time Chattooga County Hospital opened to serve the county.

The town of Trion developed as a mill village around the cotton factory at Trion that was organized in 1845 by A.P. Allgood, Spencer Marsh, and W.K. Briers. It began operations in 1847. According to the census of 1850, 70 persons were employed in manufacturing in Chattooga County. George White, in Historical Collections of Georgia (1854), indicates that "Tryon Factory" had 864 spindles and 10 looms and employed 45 operatives. Other manufacturing operations in Chattooga County at that time consisted mostly of sawmills and grist and flour mills.

According to census records, Trion Manufacturing Company accounted for a majority of Chattooga County's manufacturing employment during the last half of the 19^th century. The factory escaped destruction during the Civil War but was destroyed by fire in 1875. A new brick factory was constructed in 1876. In 1888, the Chattanooga, Rome, and Columbus Railroad was built through the center of the county passing through Raccoon Mills, Summerville, and Trion. The construction of the railroad allowed for the expansion of the mill with the addition of two buildings between 1889 and 1900.

The town of Trion was incorporated on February 20th, 1869, but included only the land owned by Trion Manufacturing Company. Over the next several decades, Trion's population grew steadily and the corporate limits were expanded and eventually included lands outside the control of the mill. During the 1890s, Trion experienced one of its two greatest periods of growth. The town's population increased 139 percent from 807 in 1890 to 1,926 in 1900. A 1901 article in The Summerville News described Trion as having two churches-Methodist and Baptist-one school, a fire protection system, one department store, one ice plant, one brick plant, one saw mill, one weekly newspaper, one ginnery, one large farm, 500 houses, six warehouses, two hotels, five physicians, one livery stable, one meat market, three blacksmith shops, and one coal yard.

On August 22^nd, 1907, Trion's corporate limits were extended to include nineteen land lots together with all roads, streets, approaches, and property used for railroad purposes lying within a radius of one mile. During the 1900s, however, Trion's population declined 10.6 percent to 1,721 in 1910. In June 1912, the assets of the Trion Manufacturing Company were sold by order of bankruptcy court. The property was purchased by a syndicate and sold to Benjamin D. Riegel of New York. A new company, The Trion Company, was chartered under the laws of Georgia on August 31^st, 1912. Benjamin D. Riegel became its president.

By the mid-1920s, Trion Cotton Mills had expanded to 61,000 spindles. The 1920s were Trion's second period of rapid population growth. Its population jumped 107 percent during that decade, reaching 3,289 in 1930. In 1932, The Trion Company added a glove factory, and in 1938, a dyeing and finishing plant was built. The Dixie National highway, running north-south through the county through Trion, Summerville, and Gore, was paved in 1932-33.

It was during this period of growth and development in Trion that the Trion Company established the local hospital named after the company's president, Benjamin D. Riegel. The construction of the hospital was indicative of the importance of the mill company's role in the lives of its employees and in the community.

Chattooga County's first hospital was established in nearby Summerville in August 1927, by Dr. W.B. Hair. Dr. N.A. Funderburk was a partner to Dr. Hair until he became head of Riegel Hospital in Trion in 1934. Dr. Funderburk was head of the hospital until September 1942, after which Dr. William U. Hyden became head of the staff. The 18-bed hospital in Summerville was known as the Summerville-Trion Hospital until about 1945. After Dr. Hair sold his interest in the hospital, it was renamed the Summerville Hospital until it closed in November 1948, due to low occupancy. In May, 1949, Chattooga County voters approved hospital bonds in the amount of $110,000 toward the construction of a county hospital. The Chattooga County Hospital, located in Summerville, opened in January, 1952. The Chattooga County Hospital Authority was advised regarding the plans to close Trion Community Hospital in 1975, and the 42-bed capacity of the county facility was believed sufficient to meet the hospital needs of the county. Patients of the Trion hospital were transferred to the county facility by March 1^st, 1975, and the Trion doctors joined the medical staff of the Chattooga County Hospital. The Chattooga County Hospital closed on May 30th, 1997. There are currently no hospital facilities in Chattooga County.

Riegel Hospital provided services to the greater Trion community and surrounding area, not just mill employees. Patients came from as far away as Dalton, Georgia, and northwestern Alabama. Company employees could pay for services through payroll deductions.

Riegel Hospital served the African-American community in a segregated section of the hospital prior to the facility being integrated in the mid-1960s. This segregated section consisted of little more than two rooms and three beds in the northwest corner of the first floor accessed by an outside rear entry. This section of the historic hospital was later remodeled into a dentist's office.

Benjamin D. Riegel, generally considered Trion's greatest benefactor, died on November 6th, 1941. His death marked the end of an era defined by a long list of community improvements. These included paved streets, modern recreational facilities, new schools, new and improved housing (including a large dormitory and a row of brick apartments along Park Avenue), a beautiful landscaped plaza constructed between the mills, and of course the community hospital. In addition, Riegel acquired a herd of prized Guernsey cattle and built a large, modern dairy that he named Riegeldale Farm. He also built the Riegeldale Tavern and gardens across from the dairy at the south end of town on the Dixie Highway. It was operated as a restaurant and an outlet for his dairy products. Trion had all the conveniences needed for its people, including its own modern department store, service station, sawmill, ice plant, bank, library, barber shop, and beauty parlor.

Two of the aforementioned improvements, the Riegel Hospital and Leila Riegel Hall dormitory (no longer extant), were opened to the public for inspection at ten o'clock on the morning of April 12th, 1934. The Summerville News declared that Saturday to be "one of the greatest days the people of Trion have ever seen" and that it "will be long-remembered by the citizens of this town."

The two-story, thirty-bed hospital was situated in "South Trion," called an "ideal location that will assure quietness to patients." Immediately north of the hospital was the three-story Leila Riegel Hall, a dormitory built to house some 300 girls. The new buildings were described as being of "old Colonial architecture." The hospital was "modern equipped in every respect" and "as fireproof as any building can be made." The land on which the hospital and dormitory were built had been used originally as a community pasture. The hospital's medical staff was said to be "well-trained in the diagnosis of physical ailments and also in surgical work," and the hospital was said to offer its patients "the best in medical knowledge that can be had in this part of the country." Dr. N.A. Funderburk was head of the staff of physicians that included Doctors Mitchell, Baker, and Chunn.

A few years after Benjamin D. Riegel's death, on August 14th, 1945, The Trion Community Foundation, Inc., was chartered. Incorporators were John L. Riegel, a cousin of Benjamin, and G.H.H. Emory, both of New York, and E.W. Reid and N.B. Murphy, president of The Trion Company, both of Trion. The sole purpose of this new nonprofit corporation was "to provide, acquire, maintain, and operate facilities for the promotion of health, education, recreation, civic improvement and charities for the Trion community." It was expressly given the power and authority to acquire and operate any hospital, clinic, or other facility for the promotion and protection of the health of the community; to acquire and operate recreational facilities, such as community centers, athletic fields, and parks; and to provide funds for other charitable and humanitarian purposes, including providing student loan funds for education. On December 26th, 1945, The Trion Company donated the Riegel Community Hospital property to the Trion Community Foundation.

In June 1946, The Trion Company and the Ware Shoals (South Carolina) Manufacturing Company were combined into a new corporation, Riegel Textile Corporation, organized under the laws of Delaware. Trion's population declined by 20 percent during the 1940s, and it lost its status as the county's largest town. Summerville's corporate limits were greatly expanded in 1945, and its 1950 population of 3,973 surpassed Trion's 3,028.

The Trion Community Foundation, Inc., operated the hospital, then called Trion Community Hospital, for almost 30 years. By the 1970s, the hospital building did not meet standards for Medicare and Medicaid or state fire regulations. Fearing that the state would not continue to grant the hospital a certificate to operate due to the building's obsolescence and deficiencies, the Trion Community Foundation decided to close the facility. The Trion Community Hospital officially closed on March 1^st, 1975. At that time, there were three doctors on staff. The doctors continued to use their offices on the first floor of the building, which then became known as the Trion Doctors' Building.

The Trion Community Foundation, Inc., sold the old hospital property in April, 1986. Portions of the building continued to be used for medical offices. In November, 1999, the Trion Town Council voted to purchase the property. The acquisition was completed in March, 2000.

Building Description

Riegel Hospital, constructed in 1934, is centrally located in the Trion mill community in northwest Georgia. It is a long, narrow, two-story, brick building with Colonial Revival details including symmetrical facade, with a nine-bay central block and three-bay pavilions at each end; flat roof with parapet; balconied entry portico featuring entablature supported by pilasters and fluted, Doric columns; and brick quoins emphasizing pavilion corners. Other features include a brick foundation; wooden windows, main entrance, and rear porch painted white; single and paired six-over-six double-hung sash windows; brick lintels with brick keystones (single lintel over paired windows); brick water tables at first-floor level and above second-story windows; brick bonding pattern consisting of five stretcher rows per row of alternating headers and stretchers; and a one-story rear entry porch supported by square columns. The foundation is assumed to be strip footing under the walls and spread footings under the piers.

The main entrance is on cross-axis with the double-loaded corridor that runs from one end of the building to the other. The main entrance of the hospital opens into a lobby that leads to a double-loaded corridor. The corridor extends to the south end into a smaller lobby or vestibule. It opens into small rooms on each side which served as doctors' offices, patient rooms, and treatment rooms. The corridor extends to the north end and opens into the remodeled portion of the building which includes the former African-American section. The stair lobby is in the center of the building at the rear. The second floor contains a double-loaded corridor. Rooms on each side include patient rooms, wards, and auxiliary rooms. The operating room is centrally located across from the stair lobby and nurses' station. Walls are plaster on brick or lath; ceilings are plaster on lath; and floors and baseboards are ceramic or composition tile. The interior is generally void of stylistic details or ornamentation with the exception of arched openings that are a repeated interior design feature. Mechanical systems and services include an elevator, radiators, numerous plumbing fixtures, some lighting fixtures, and skylights above the second-story corridor.

Several alterations have been made to the building. The main entrance doors have been replaced with windows, and both side entrances have been altered from their original appearances. Several windows have been bricked in and several others have been replaced with windows that do not fit the original openings or with metal storm windows. A one-story frame addition has been built on the north side of the building.

The first floor has dropped ceilings, artificial wood paneling, and carpeted floors. Most or all of these changes are believed to have occurred since 1975. The former African-American section at the south end has been renovated into a single doctor's office. The second floor retains its plaster walls, tile floors and walls, and arched openings. A nurses' station, operating room, and patient rooms remain intact.

Two outbuildings are located on the property. The balloon-framed, front-gable ambulance garage and cross-gable storage building are located directly behind the main building. The buildings are wood-sided and painted white with asphalt roofs and exposed rafter tails. Both buildings are believed to have been built c.1934.

South of the Chattooga River and surrounded by mostly historic residential buildings on the east, south, and west. Riegel Hospital is set back approximately 175 feet from Park Avenue on a wide expanse of lawn. Earlier foundation plantings no longer exist. A concrete walk extends from Park Avenue on the entry axis and a concrete walk on the cross-axis extends from Park Street to Town Hall on the north. A paved parking area is located at the rear of the main building.