The Dominican Sisters Build a Future
Establishing a vital medical outpost in the heart of a dangerous lumbering region.
One of the most important institutions in Aberdeen is the hospital established by the Dominican Sisters of New York. The sisters currently occupy three frame buildings, but plans are complete for a large and commodious brick structure to be built at once. This institution is vital to the area due to the frequent accidental injuries resulting from the many mills and logging camps in operation. From October to December 1890, twenty-one patients were treated, almost all for traumatic industrial injuries.
“The hospital is calculated to do great good on account of the accidents resulting from the many mills and logging camps.”
Early medical care in Aberdeen was defined by the proximity of the logging camps and the inherent dangers of the mill work. The Dominican Sisters' efforts underscore the role that religious organizations played in filling the gap for public health infrastructure in 19th-century boomtowns.
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