At the end of the 19th century, one in seven people around the world had died of tuberculosis, and the disease ranked as the third leading cause of death in the United States. While physicians had begun to accept German physician Robert Koch’s scientific confirmation that TB was caused by bacteria, this understanding was slow to catch on among the general public, and most people gave little attention to the behaviors that contributed to disease transmission. They didn’t understand that things they did could make them sick. Copied from the beginning of the article: How Epidemics of the Past Changed the Way Americans Lived Past public health crises inspired innovations in infrastructure, education, fundraising and civic debate by Katherine A. Foss, Zócalo Public Square posted April 1, 2020 on SmithsonianMagazine.com shared October 20, 2022 on Smithsonian Magazine on Facebook.
The original grounds on Lima Road had at least one graveyard. In 2020, the county hired American Locating Services of Indianapolis, to use ground-penetrating radar to look for caskets or bodies according to the newspaper article County to look for possible graves Commissioners hire surveyor to study Byron property by Rosa Salter Rodriguez published February 22, 2020 in The Journal Gazette newspaper. It also stated: The need for the study came a few months ago when a longtime area resident told county officials he remembered seeing a second graveyard on the site when he was a teenager in the 1960s to 1970s.
Irene Byron Tuberculosis Sanatorium-Physician Residences, also known as the Kidder and Draper-Sherwood Houses, were two historic homes located in Perry Township, Allen County, Indiana. They were designed by architect Charles R. Weatherhogg and built in 1934-1935 as housing for the medical director and head staff physician. Weatherhogg had earlier designed the sanatarium complex. The Kidder house was a two-story, Tudor Revival style frame dwelling with brick and stone cladding. The Draper-Sherwood House was a two-story, Colonial Revival style frame dwelling with one-story side wings. Surrounding the houses was a contributing formal landscape design. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004and delisted in 2013. Copied from Irene Byron Tuberculosis Sanatorium at Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
In Memoriam: Irene Byron Tuberculosis Sanatorium and Hospital lists the patients who died at these hospitals. This information has been gleaned by searching the death records for the State of Indiana, often one at a time, to find patients whose death certificates give their location of death as the Sanatorium or Hospital, December 22, 2022
24-minute video Abandoned building explore & demolition of County old TB Hospital by Honor Rolls December 18, 2022 on YouTube.
The Byron Healthcare Facility was established in this location in 1916 in Fort Wayne Indiana Allen County. It was an anti Tuberculosis unit. Evolved into a show case facility in the 1930s but fell on hard times until 1954 when the Allen County Home as it was called. In 1974 Allen County Health Center merged with Byron Health Care Center
Founded in 1892, closed August 31, 2014. Constructed some of the city’s most prominent buildings including the Embassy Theatre; the Fort Wayne Water Treatment Plant; the former Waterfield/Wolf & Dessauer/Lincoln Financial building now known as Citizens Square; North Side, Bishop Luers and Paul Harding high schools; projects at Trine University and the University of Saint Francis; the Mizpah Shrine; the (former) GTE building; and many buildings and expansions at and around St. Joseph, Lutheran and Parkview hospitals. From Irmscher built to last Contractor on Embassy, many major projects, closes by Linda Lipp published September 12, 2014 in Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly.
