Santa Fe Memorial Hospital, Inc.
Temple, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The first hospital in Temple, this institution opened in 1891 for employees of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad. The first section of the present building, completed in 1908, replaced an earlier frame structure. Until 1948 nursing care was provided by Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. Early staff members Dr. A.C. Scott, chief surgeon, and Dr. R.R. White later formed the noted Scott and White Clinic. Now a general care facility, Santa Fe Memorial Hospital serves as a reminder of Temple's early development as a railroad town. (1982)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Opened in 1891 for workers of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, this was the first hospital in Temple, its present building's oldest section dating to 1908. For decades the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word provided the nursing care. Early staff physicians A. C. Scott and R. R. White went on to found the renowned Scott and White Clinic, giving Temple a lasting reputation as a medical center.
Why it matters
A railroad company hospital seeded one of Texas's great medical institutions, showing how industry and health care grew up together in a young railroad town.
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Related people
- · A. C. Scott
- · R. R. White
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Former Site of Y.M.C.A.
Temple, TX
In 1898 the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad chartered a YMCA in Temple and built a three-story hall the next year to lodge and entertain its railway workers. The "Y" also opened its doors to townspeople and pioneered youth athletics before fire destroyed the original building in 1934. Rebuilt and then handed to the USO in 1942, it served the community through war and peace.
City of Temple
Temple, TX
Founded in 1881 on the Santa Fe line and named for railroad official B. M. Temple, the town began with a barbecue-fueled town-lot sale and a rough early reputation — muddy streets, saloons, and the nickname "Tanglefoot." As a Santa Fe division point and junction with other lines, it grew quickly, established public schools by 1884, and later became a major medical center anchored by the Santa Fe, King's Daughters, Scott & White, and veterans' hospitals.
Missouri, Kansas & Texas (Katy) Railroad Bridge
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When the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad bypassed Belton in 1881, townspeople refused to be left off the map and arranged for a spur into the city. The Katy Railroad arrived in 1882, bridging the Leon River and turning Belton into a shipping hub for Central Texas cotton growers. Around 1900 the line replaced its earlier wooden trestles with this riveted-steel Parker truss, a workmanlike specimen of early 20th-century bridge engineering still standing over the river.
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