A Historical Column From The Fayette County Historical Commission and Fayette County Judge’s Office
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Dr. Frank J. Guenther bought the J.M. Byrnes home on Guadalupe Street in July 1920 and remodeled it to become La Grange’s first hospital. Photo taken from the silver anniversary of the La Grange Hospital, 1920-1945. Photo Courtesy Of The Fayette Heritage Museum & Archives
La Grange’s First Hospital Patient
By Rox Ann Johnson
One hundred years ago, in July 1920, Dr. Frank J. Guenther of Moulton bought the Byrnes home and double lot on East Guadalupe Street in La Grange, with the intention of making it La Grange’s first hospital. The house was built some time before 1880 for Major J.M. Byrnes, a Confederate army veteran who came to La Grange as a cotton buyer after the Civil War. His widow, Delphine, was still living in the home at the time of the sale.
A local contractor was immediately hired to convert the home into a 30-room hospital with stucco exterior. The transformation was complete by December, rendering the old home unrecognizable.
A hospital was badly needed in La Grange, so construction dust and noise did not keep the local citizens away. Hospital records showed the first patient was 56-year-old Josephine (Winkler) Gleckler, who lived a few miles south of La Grange. The Aug. 12, 1920 issue of The La Grange Journal described the unusual way in which she was injured:
“Mrs. Jos. Gleckler of Bluff is in the local hospital of Drs. Guenther & Young, recovering from injuries received last Thursday about noon. Unfortunate as the accident was, it is nevertheless a very fortunate one in that the injuries received, ‘though painful, were not more serious.
“Mrs. Gleckler, driving her Chevrolet car down the Bluff incline, found her path blocked by another car, belonging presumably to a tourist who had just repaired a blowout and was in the act of entering and driving on. In stopping her car before being able to pass, the engine in her car ‘died.’ It was while [cranking] her car that she met with the accident.
“As the car was cranked it began to descend the incline, striking the unfortunate woman, knocking her down, dragging her for quite a distance, and finally, when her clothes became unfastened from the bumper, passing over her body, breaking three ribs on the right side and also her collar bone. In the car, much frightened, were the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Hermann Mensing. The car continued until it collided with the fence. Incoming autoists soon appeared, relieved the predicament and brought the sufferer to the home of Mr. Mensing where she received medical attention and was later taken to the hospital. Monday afternoon the information came from the hospital that Mrs. Gleckler was resting very well and doing as well as conditions would permit. The tourist, so we have been informed, continued his journey undisturbed.”
Lest the modern reader think she was injured on the infamous Bluff drive coming into La Grange, be reminded there was no Jefferson Street bridge at the time. That was not opened to traffic until May 1926. Mrs. Gleckler was approaching La Grange down the road that passes the country club through the Frisch Auf! development.
To mark the 100th anniversary of La Grange’s first hospital, the staff of the Fayette Heritage Museum & Archives in La Grange is currently collecting photographs, items, and stories for an exhibit. Please call 979-968-3765 or email rjohnson@cityoflg.com for more information.