Title
Northington General Hospital property, circa 2000
Subject
Hospitals
Description
The Northington General property was built as a temporary Army hospital in World War II. Work started on the hosptial in the early part of 1942 and eventually sprawled over 160 acres. After three years, the Army left at the end of the war and Northington General was declared surplus property by the US government.
The University of Alabama moved in with a quitclaim deed and got control of the property. The Druid City Hospital used 9 buildings in 1946 until their new facility was built in 1952.
The property was then used by the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education and the University of Alabama over several years. The Tuscaloosa BOE used part of the property as a temporary school named Northington Elementary which was housed in the old Army hospital barracks. The University used part of it for supplement housing for veterans returning from WW II and going to school on the GI Bill, and then later for married student housing.
The property was in very bad shape by then since it was only built to be a semi-permanent stucture. in 1949, some of the buildings were actually "coming to pieces", per a newspaper report. A portion of these ruins were finally destroyed during the filming of the climactic scene of the 1978 Burt Reynolds film Hooper. The ruins of the hospital had lain derelict for many years and included a few dozen buildings as well as two immensely tall brick smoke-stacks. The University Mall was built on that property.
A few of the old buildings remained until July, 2003 when the final eight buildings were torn down. These pictures were taken around 2000.
The Army hospital was named in memory of Lt. Col. Eugene Garland Northington, born Feb 12, 1880 in Prattville, Alabama, and was a former student at the University of Alabama. He received his medical degree from Tulane in 1903. He was a veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War I. He began his medical practice in Birmingham where he owned the first X-ray machine in the state. His experimentations with the X-ray equipment showed the dangers to the operators of the machines. The burns he received required amputations of both arms and eventually cost him his live. He died June 9, 1933 and is buried in San Francisco National Cemetery. He is considered a martyr by many in the medial profession.
TIME Milestones, Jun. 19, 1933--Died. Eugene G. Northington. 53, retired lieutenant colonel of the U. S. Army Medical Corps who as a pioneer experimenter with x-rays first established their danger to the user; of cancer of the limbs caused by too frequent x-rays exposure; in San Francisco. Calif. To check the spread of cancerous tissue he had army surgeons operate on him 164 times, lost both arms bit by bit.
The University of Alabama moved in with a quitclaim deed and got control of the property. The Druid City Hospital used 9 buildings in 1946 until their new facility was built in 1952.
The property was then used by the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education and the University of Alabama over several years. The Tuscaloosa BOE used part of the property as a temporary school named Northington Elementary which was housed in the old Army hospital barracks. The University used part of it for supplement housing for veterans returning from WW II and going to school on the GI Bill, and then later for married student housing.
The property was in very bad shape by then since it was only built to be a semi-permanent stucture. in 1949, some of the buildings were actually "coming to pieces", per a newspaper report. A portion of these ruins were finally destroyed during the filming of the climactic scene of the 1978 Burt Reynolds film Hooper. The ruins of the hospital had lain derelict for many years and included a few dozen buildings as well as two immensely tall brick smoke-stacks. The University Mall was built on that property.
A few of the old buildings remained until July, 2003 when the final eight buildings were torn down. These pictures were taken around 2000.
The Army hospital was named in memory of Lt. Col. Eugene Garland Northington, born Feb 12, 1880 in Prattville, Alabama, and was a former student at the University of Alabama. He received his medical degree from Tulane in 1903. He was a veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War I. He began his medical practice in Birmingham where he owned the first X-ray machine in the state. His experimentations with the X-ray equipment showed the dangers to the operators of the machines. The burns he received required amputations of both arms and eventually cost him his live. He died June 9, 1933 and is buried in San Francisco National Cemetery. He is considered a martyr by many in the medial profession.
TIME Milestones, Jun. 19, 1933--Died. Eugene G. Northington. 53, retired lieutenant colonel of the U. S. Army Medical Corps who as a pioneer experimenter with x-rays first established their danger to the user; of cancer of the limbs caused by too frequent x-rays exposure; in San Francisco. Calif. To check the spread of cancerous tissue he had army surgeons operate on him 164 times, lost both arms bit by bit.
Source
Personal Collection of Mayling Smith
Date
Circa 2000
Contributor
Brenda Harris (Description)
Type
Photograph
Identifier
830
Coverage
Tuscaloosa (AL)
Original Format
Photograph
Physical Dimensions
3 1/2 inches x 5 inches