Battle Creek Sanitarium
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Battle Creek Sanitarium
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Turn-of-the-20th-century breathing exercises
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Location within the state of Michigan
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| Location | 74 N. Washington St. Battle Creek, Michigan |
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| Coordinates | 42°19′37″N 85°11′16″W / 42.32694°N 85.18778°WCoordinates: 42°19′37″N 85°11′16″W / 42.32694°N 85.18778°W |
| Built | 1903 |
| Architect | Frank M. Andrews |
| Architectural style | Renaissance, Other |
| NRHP Reference # | 74000980 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 30, 1974 |
| Designated MSHS | September 7, 1989 |
The Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States, was a health resort based on the health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, most notably associated with John Harvey Kellogg. The complex was purchased by the U.S. Army during World War II and converted into the Percy Jones Army Hospital. The facility later became the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center.
It first opened on September 5, 1866, as the Western Health Reform Institute. In 1876, John Harvey Kellogg became the superintendent, and his brother, W. K. Kellogg, worked as the bookkeeper. In 1878, a new structure was built on the site, which burned down in 1902, and then rebuilt and enlarged. As Kellogg put it, they took the word "sanatorium", which back then was defined as a health resort for invalid soldiers. "A change of two letters transformed 'sanatorium' to 'sanitarium', and a new word was added to the English language". Kellogg states the number of patients grew from 106 in 1866, to 7,006 patrons during the year 1906. In 1928, Battle Creek Sanitarium expanded with a fourteen story tower, built across the street from the main sanitarium. This tower went into receivership in 1933, while the sanitarium continued to operate from its main facility. In 1942, the U. S. Army purchased the tower and established the Percy Jones General Hospital; the hospital closed permanently in 1953 and one year later became the Battle Creek Federal Center. Owned by the Seventh-day Adventists, the Battle Creek Sanitarium continued to operate as a psychiatric facility through the 1970s but closed its doors by the end of the decade. In 1986, the main building was razed, ending the final chapter in the history of the Battle Creek Sanitarium. Medical records have since been microfiched and are now kept by the nearby Fieldstone Center, in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Along with high numbers of patrons, there was a large number of staff at Battle Creek. Kellogg stated that "at the Battle Creek Sanitarium, the number of persons employed is never less than eight hundred, and often rises in the busiest season to more than one thousand". They comprised "physicians, nurses, helpers etc". (There were 30 physicians on staff). The main buildings comprised four large buildings, chief of which was the central structure, "which affords rooming accommodations for about 400 guests...(and)...treatment rooms capable of handling more than 1,000 patients"
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