The Summit View Sanatorium

Tuberculosis, also known as consumption or the White Plague, was rampant in the 1800s and early 1900s US and Europe. “Contagion: Historical Views of Diseases and Epidemics,” a digital collection at Harvard University Library, lists TB as “the cause of more deaths in industrialized countries than any other disease during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.” Symptoms included coughing (phlegm sometimes contained blood), fever, night sweats, and weight loss.

Originally thought to be hereditary, people soon associated the disease with poverty – indeed, consumption brings to mind images of 19^th century working class men, women, and children in the midst of rapid industrialization and scenes that would not be out of place in a Dickens novel. According to the “Contagion” collection, 40% of working-class deaths were caused by TB. Interestingly, it was also during this time period that consumption became known as a “romantic disease,” a notion promoted by artists, writers, and composers at the time. English poet Lord Byron wrote, “I should like to die from consumption.” Women even used makeup to replicate the pallor of those infected.

Part of the public health movement to stop the spread of TB, this poster warned of the dangers of passing on the illness to others.

When the tuberculosis bacillus was discovered in 1882, and people learned that it was contagious, a large public health movement began to try to stop the spread of the disease. One of these efforts was the creation of sanitariums or sanatoriums, or care facilities, located in the country to isolate tuberculosis patients and expose them to fresh air and promote good diet and bed rest. The first in the country was established at Saranac Lake in 1885, but they popped up all over in rapid succession. The Fulton County Tuberculosis Hospital, also called Summit View Sanatorium, was created in 1911 at the end of Summit View Road in Mayfield. It contained 23 beds. In the summer, they were able to house a few more, as the warm weather allowed patients to sleep on the porch.

 

Summit View was a public hospital and asked patients who could to pay $10 a week to cover their care. However, if a patient could not pay, they were treated free of charge. The hospital divided the patients into three classes: incipient (lowest risk/weakest form of the disease), advanced, and very advanced. The hospital did have some issues with lack of space, because many people were on the waiting list for treatment in the incipient class. There was also a lack of nurses, apparently. In his report to the Board of Supervisors in April 1915, hospital superintendent Dr. Julius Cone explained that the hospital’s location “five miles out in the wilderness” made it “difficult to get and then keep the nurses and help as there is nothing of an entertaining nature to attract them to the place.”

1915 Report on Summit View to the NYS Senate.

Because of the contagious nature of the disease, TB was a concern for the entire community. Not only was sanitation and prevention an issue, but citizens also helped in other ways by donating needed items and providing entertainment for the patients. A Fulton County Tuberculosis and Public Health Committee was created and met monthly. Along with fundraising, the group also collected donations for the patients at Summit View. In the winter of 1926/27, they secured sweaters and other articles of clothing, as well as “42 story books, 18 crayon books, and 14 boxes of crayons,” according to the Morning Herald. The Gloversville High School Ensemble Club presented musical entertainment for the patients in the spring of 1923 and planned to do so every other week.

On April 5, 1927, a devastating fire tore through the administration building connected to the hospital. The newspaper headline the following day read: “WOMEN ACCOMPLISH HEROIC DEEDS BATTLING BIG FIRE AT SUMMIT VIEW HOSPITAL.” A defective flue in the kitchen caused the fire, which brought $30,000-50,000 worth of damage. It was one of the largest seen in the county for some time – but thanks to the quick thinking of the staff and patients and the hard work of the Gloversville and Mayfield firemen, the fire was contained to the administration building only. The supervising nurse, Mrs. Leah Salsburg, “connected a hose line to one of the hydrants in the hospital’s water system. She attempted to direct a stream from this line upon the fire but the pressure was so great that she was unable to handle the nozzle and she was knocked down.” Three male patients also connected hoses and kept the water aimed toward the fire. Several nurses worked quickly to carry out patients who couldn’t walk on their own. One young 12-year-old patient, Emma Ryfta of Broadalbin, was lauded as a heroine by the paper for helping others get out of the building. She was taken to the home of the city nurse. Other patients were either sent to Nathan Littauer Hospital or to their own homes. A terrible snowstorm with strong winds made fighting the fire incredibly difficult, but it was eventually put out sometime in the evening.

The hospital remained closed for most of the year, and in 1928 it was finally decided to rebuild. However, the Board of Supervisors was divided on what exactly should be built – just the administration building, or an administration building and a new hospital? One thing was certain: many were concerned with the number of people who had succumbed to tuberculosis in 1927 while the hospital was closed. There were 37 people who died outside of the sanatorium. Total, the county estimated 379 cases that year, and using these numbers suggested a new, bigger hospital be built with 38 beds. The discussions were tense (the Morning Herald called it a “fiery session”). The project was expensive, coming in at just under $139,000. A $50,000 plan was adopted to rebuild the administration building. At the close of the first meeting, the entire board of managers of the hospital resigned.

Sometime in the early to mid-1930s, the Summit View Sanatorium closed. Any new cases of the disease were sent to the tuberculosis hospital in Montgomery County or to other institutions for treatment. Fulton County leased the property to the VFW. They worked to improve the buildings and grounds and established a summer home there for several years. In the mid-1950s the VFW turned the property back over to the county, who eventually sold it again.

Today, we have a better understanding of tuberculosis and how to properly treat it. The sanitariums like the one in Fulton County were the first true large-scale effort to try and understand and control the disease that killed so many throughout the 19^th and 20^th century. It was an illness that captured the concern of our entire county.