The haunted Jefferson Davis Hospital operated from 1924 to 1938 as the first centralized municipal hospital to treat indigent patients in Houston, Texas. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the building was also designated as a historic landmark by the Houston City Council. Prior to its construction, the property was used as a municipal cemetery beginning in the 1840s to replace Old City Cemetery. Thousands of people were buried on the site and it became a major cemetery for over 6,000 Confederate soldiers, former slaves, city officials, and thousands of victims of the yellow fever and cholera epidemics. Use of the cemetery discontinued in the 1879, although family burials continued into the 1890s. By the early 1900s, the cemetery was abandoned. The consecrated grounds were later used as a municipal hospital by the Houston City Council in the 1920s. The hospital was named for Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederacy, to honor Confederate soldiers who had been buried in the cemetery. Designed by Houston city architect, Wilkes Alfred Dowdy, the 4-story red brick structure contained stone veneers and rows of double-hung windows. The cast stone detailing, portico, and brick corner quoins, are elements of the Classical Revival style. The building entrance is a square portico framed by four Ionic fluted capital and pilaster columns. The front façade features several square rock stone walls that were either gravestones salvaged from the original cemetery or flower beds. The raised placement of the building atop an above-ground basement avoided damage to the existing burials. The height of the building allowed for natural ventilation, which was believed to combat airborne illnesses. The second and third floors of the building featured two screened balconies to allow patients an opportunity to enjoy fresh-air without leaving the hospital. The interior of the building reflected its establishment as a charity hospital for the indigent. A childrens rooftop garden and playground also enhanced the function of the building without increasing its overall size. By the late 1930s, the rapid growth of the Houston area rendered the building inadequate to support the healthcare needs of indigent population. Secondary city-operated medical services were offered in the building until 1939 when the remaining clinical facilities relocated to Allen Parkway. The building was then used by the Harris County Hospital District as a medical records storage facility. Later tenants included a probation office, a convalescent home, a venereal disease clinic, a home for juvenile delinquents, a food stamp distribution site, a drug treatment center and a storage facility for the county from the 1960s to the 1980s until its abandonment. The adjoining probation office is also haunted, because it shared the same cemetery as the hospital building, the morgue of the former Jefferson Davis Hospital, and because it is bordered by the black earth graves that dated back to the 1600s. Reports of paranormal activity in the hospital building and the probation building have included: numerous apparitions of soldiers, nurses, patients and children; unexplained noises that come from the attic area, headless spirits; people being pushed by unseen hands; phantom screams; fire alarms being triggered for no reason; guard dogs who refuse to enter certain parts of the building with the security guards; the sound of children laughing and playing; a ghostly nurse who tells people to be quiet and numerous shadow figures; and hundreds of more ghost stories. One investigator said it reminded him of the Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Kentucky. In 2005 a $6.3 million renovation project began and the original architectural features were preserved. Construction was completed on the former Jefferson Davis Hospital building in 2005, although an unrestored building remained on the East side of the property. In 2013, the remaining unrestored portion of the historic Jefferson Davis Hospital Building was destroyed in a two-alarm fire that resulted in one casualty by a Houston firefighter struck by a falling piece of burning tile. Following its completion the building was renamed the Elder Street Artists’ Lofts. The 34 residential/studio units were originally intended for only artists occupancy, but was later opened to the community-at-large. HGTV presented the developers with a Restore America award. As for the spirits; they still make their presence known to the current occupants.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 22:54:33 +0000
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