Lebanon #25: Lebanon General Hospital

626 Second Street

Lebanon General Hospital Building on October 21, 2006

This building was built in 1936 as the Lebanon General Hospital, as can still be seen wearing through on the cornerstone. The building became the Lebanon Public Library in 1952 after a new hospital was built.

Lebanon General Hospital Cornerstone on October 21, 2006

Lebanon’s first hospital was established in a house in 1913. In 1917, Dr. Joel Booth, Dr. W.A. Barendick, and Dr. Bruce Miller established a hospital in what had been the Montague House with Mrs. C.H. Whitman in charge. In 1919, Dr. N.E. Irvine and Dr. Lee Wood joined the hospital. In 1919, the doctors purchased the Scroggin House on the lot to the north of this site, and moved the hospital there. Dr. Booth was president of the hospital board, and promoted the construction of a new hospital building. In 1936, this 24-bed hospital was built here, on the former site of a grade school that was built in 1876. The Scroggin House became an annex with living quarters for non-resident nurses, a kitchen, laundry and storage.

During the 1940s, the population of Lebanon tripled and just 11 years after it was built the hospital was found to be overcrowded and was condemned as a fire hazard. In 1948 the Mennonite Church took over management of the facility while a fund drive was organized with the help of attorney Lawrence Morley as general chairman, Lebanon lumberman John Nyland, and Max Thecker, president of Cascade Plywood Corporation. Dr. Booth was still president of the hospital board, and again promoted construction of a new building. The new Lebanon General Hospital was dedicated on January 20, 1952.

After the Lebanon General Hospital moved into its new building, this building became home to the Lebanon Public Library, which had been founded in 1910 by the Women’s Civil Club as a privately supported service with Mrs. J.C. Booth as the first president and Women’s Christian Temperance Union members serving as librarians. The library was supported by donations and monthly teas until 1916, when Mrs. A.W. Blackburn as president developed the idea of selling shares at one dollar each and a Library Association was set up. The library occupied a number of locations over the years before moving into this building.

Frederic Homer Balch Plaque on October 21, 2006

A small park is located next to the library. The park contains a plaque placed in 1932 by the Linn Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Oregon Pioneers in memory of Frederic Homer Balch, who was born on December 14, 1861 and was the author of “The Bridge of the Gods.”

Garden Club Drinking Fountain on October 21, 2006

The park also contains a drinking fountain placed by the Lebanon Garden Club on 1974.

Garden Club Drinking Fountain Plaque on October 21, 2006

A new 20,000-square-foot public library & justice center at Academy Square was dedicated on Saturday, July 11, 2009. This building is now a Teen Center for the Boys & Girls Club of the Greater Santiam.

Continue to 26: Kuhn Theatre…