The Frontier Infirmary Built for Broken Bodies
As Seattle's industry boomed in 1876, one local doctor established a hospital specifically to treat the frequent, brutal injuries sustained in the region's rugged lumber mills and logging camps.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Seattle Hospital, conducted by G. A. Weed, M.D., located on Commercial Street between Main and Jackson, Seattle, W.T. To meet the pressing needs of many persons on Puget Sound needing medical and surgical aid, and finding comfortable rooms and good care at moderate prices, I have fitted up a hospital where every convenience and comfort will be provided in connection with experienced and skillful medical and surgical attendance. We aim to make this a permanent institution and to give special attention to cases of fractures and injuries of all kinds, constantly occurring in the mills, coal mines, and logging camps surrounding us. Seattle being centrally located with regard to these interests, and more accessible than any other point, we mean with the aid of these advantages, giving personal and thorough attention to its entire management, to build up an institution indispensable to the sick and disabled who have no homes, and worthy of their confidence and that of the public.
“We aim to make this a permanent institution and to give special attention to cases of fractures and injuries of all kinds, constantly occurring in the mills, coal mines, and logging camps surrounding us.”
In 1876, Seattle was a raw industrial frontier where a 'hospital' was often just a boarding house for injured laborers. Today, that same focus on specialized emergency and trauma care has evolved into the massive, high-tech medical district that defines First Hill, mirroring the city's growth from a mill town to a global health hub.
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