Most abandoned asylums and sanatoriums have a dark, haunted past. Something haunts their foundations and rooms for years.
However, the story of Iola Tuberculosis Sanatorium is quite different. This sanatorium actually served the neighboring communities efficiently and treated its patients with dignity.
The official cause of tuberculosis was identified around the turn of the century, and a new type of cure became popular.
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It was called the “fresh air cure.” This particular course of treatment called for plenty of fresh air, rest, and a proper diet for patients.
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The groundbreaking research of the fresh air cure was done by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau near New York’s Saranac Lake in the Adirondack Mountains.
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It wasn’t long before Trudeau’s method became the preferred cure for tuberculosis.
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Specialized treatment facilities for Tuberculosis around the country began popping up, conforming to the fresh air cure.
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The Rochester area in upstate New York experienced a big uptick in the number of tuberculosis cases at the turn of the century.
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The number of cases quickly overwhelmed local hospitals.
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It was at this time that the country government and the City of Rochester decided to build a tuberculosis treatment center.
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A number of sites were considered for the facilities before its current home was agreed upon.
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The first treatment tents were erected on the future sanatorium site in 1914.
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The campus was slowly but surely constructed.
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A near constant flow tuberculosis patients fueled the growth of the sanatorium.
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By the 1920s, the Iola Tuberculosis Sanatorium treated around 600 patients annually.
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The facility even had its very own waste water treatment plant and steam power plant.
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For a time in the 1920s, Iola was the largest tuberculosis sanatorium in the entire state of New York.
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Eventually, the number of tuberculosis cases declined, and local government officially closed the sanatorium in 1964.
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From 1964 until 1999, the facility served as extra office space for county government departments.
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In 1999, the county found that operating costs for the facility were too high, and closed it down for good.
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Until 2014, the hospital remained abandoned and rotting. Sadly in October, what remained of the Iola Tuberculosis Sanatorium was completely demolished to make way for a new development project.
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I’m happy to finally come across an abandoned health facility that doesn’t have a dark past. However, I’m saddened that it was knocked down. A Costco is currently being built on the old sanatorium site as part of the new development project. That just doesn’t seem right to me.
