Watts Hospital
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Watts Hospital
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| Location | Broad St. and Club Blvd., Durham, North Carolina |
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| Coordinates | 36°1′7.094″N 78°55′12.352″W / 36.01863722°N 78.92009778°WCoordinates: 36°1′7.094″N 78°55′12.352″W / 36.01863722°N 78.92009778°W |
| Area | 27 acres (11 ha) |
| Built | 1908-1909 |
| Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 80002824 |
| Added to NRHP | April 2, 1980 |
Watts Hospital, located in Durham, North Carolina was the city's first hospital, operating between 1895 and 1976.
The hospital opened in 1895, funded entirely by George W. Watts, as a private, 22-bed, modern hospital dedicated to the care of Durham's white citizens and offered free care to those unable to pay. The hospital became public in 1953 and closed 1976, when Durham County General Hospital opened. The grounds and buildings of the hospital's 1909 campus were converted to become the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, which began classes in 1980.
Watts was established in 1895, on land donated by George Watts with an endowment of $50,000, provided solely by Watts. The land fronted on West Main Street with Guess Road (later renamed Buchanan Blvd.) to the west and Watts Street to the east. By 1909, the 22-bed hospital was insufficient for the explosive growth of Durham, and new, larger facility was built on 25 acres (10.1 ha) at the intersection of Club Boulevard and Broad Street, where the hospital remained until it closed in 1976. Watts donated another $500,000 for the new hospital site, designed by Boston architect Bertand E. Taylor in the Spanish Mission style. The hospital was enlarged in 1926 with the Valinda Beale Watts Pavilion, designed by the local architectural firm of Atwood and Nash. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
In 1950, Brenda Joy (née Barksdale) Jones was born at Watts. Jones has gone on to fame as president of several prominent organizations in North Carolina, including Hemrocallis Club. She pushed legislation to make Watts a historic site or a school in the 1970s.
By the early 1960s, Watts had begun admitting black patients on a limited basis, constrained by its limited size. A 1966 referendum to fund a new, larger and integrated Watts Hospital was defeated by Durham voters, opposed by both whites and blacks, who feared that the new hospital would cater to whites, while blacks would be treated in the outmoded 1909 facility.
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