MCKENDREE, WV (LOOTPRESS) – Deep in the New River Gorge near Prince sat a miner’s hospital virtually in the middle of nowhere that treated patients for 40 years, but today there is not much that remains of the once-busy medical facility.
In 1899, the West Virginia Legislature recognized the need for healthcare in mining areas and towns that did not have immediate access. The Legislature then passed a law that established three mining hospitals throughout the state.
One was to be constructed somewhere in Kanawha County or Fayette County. The site that was selected by the four-member board appointed by then-Governor George W. Atkinson was the small lumber town of McKendree in Fayette County.
McKendree was relatively small and not located as close to other bigger towns in the Gorge. The reason the board chose the McKendree site is because of a man named Joseph L. Beury, who lobbied the board to choose the specific location.
The McKendree Miners Hospital was built on 6 1/2 acres of land donated by Beury himself, he also donated a five-year supply of coal to the facility for heating.
During its operation, the three-story hospital was open to those injured in labor accidents and treatment was free. Those injured at home or in some other way unrelated to work were allowed to be treated but were charged $1 per day.
The hospital was in operation from 1901-1941. Not much remains of the hospital except for the stairs at the main entrance, foundations, and the flowers that bloom around the old foundation of the building that was planted by a nurse who once worked there.