Sprott Hospital
Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1944, African American physicians and brothers Dr. Edward D. Sprott, Jr. and Dr. Curtis B. Sprott founded Sprott Hospital in order to provide quality care for Black patients of Beaumont often denied care in other local hospitals due to Jim Crow era laws. Their brother, Dr. Maxie Sprott, joined them in 1955. The doctors, along with other family members, lived nearby. The hospital provided a wide variety of care including laboratory and X-ray services, and obstetric and pediatric care, along with minor surgery and urgent care. In 1951, the hospital was accepted as a member of the Texas Hospital Association per the American Medical Association's requirements. In order to promote careers in the medical field, the hospital offered nursing courses and training. Located in the Cartwright Addition in southwest Beaumont, construction on the hospital began on June 19, 1944. The one-story rectangular plan building was designed by local architect Wallace B. Livesay and erected by contractor H.B. Neild for a cost of $25,900. It opened on October 1, 1944. Originally a flat-roofed building of brick with a wide stuccoed frieze band, the hospital features a central entrance along with twenty single and paired windows spaced across the facade. Today, the brick has been stuccoed, a gabled roof added, and the double entry doors have been replaced with a single glass door with narrow sidelights. As discrimination in healthcare diminished, the need for segregated hospitals and clinics like Sprott Hospital decreased. The facility transitioned in 1969 to housing Dr. Maxie Sprott's private medical practice. The site has continued to serve the community as a healthcare facility. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2023
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1944, at the height of the Jim Crow era, African American brothers Dr. Edward D. Sprott, Jr. and Dr. Curtis B. Sprott opened this Beaumont hospital so that Black patients turned away from segregated facilities could receive real medical care. A third brother, Dr. Maxie Sprott, joined in 1955, and the small brick building offered everything from X-rays and obstetrics to nurse training. As legal segregation in healthcare receded, the need for such institutions faded, and by 1969 the site had become Dr. Maxie Sprott's private practice — yet it has served the community's health ever since.
Why it matters
Sprott Hospital is a tangible reminder that Black communities built their own parallel institutions to survive and thrive under segregation, and that quality care for all was won locally, doctor by doctor.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In 1944, Beaumont was a busy industrial city on the Texas Gulf Coast. Its refineries, shipyards, and port were working at full capacity for the Second World War. Workers came to the area for defense jobs, and the city grew quickly. It also remained firmly segregated under Jim Crow laws and customs, and racial tensions had exploded in violence there only the year before.
Segregation reached into medicine. In much of the South, Black patients were refused admission to white hospitals or confined to small, inferior wards, and Black doctors often could not practice in hospitals at all. Being sick or pregnant could be dangerous in ways that had nothing to do with the illness itself.
Black communities responded by building their own institutions. Across the South, Black physicians and nurses opened clinics and small hospitals, often with limited money and a great deal of determination. Sprott Hospital was one of these.
People & events
Dr. Edward D. Sprott, Jr. and Dr. Curtis B. Sprott were brothers and physicians. They founded Sprott Hospital in 1944 to give Black patients in Beaumont the quality care that local hospitals were denying them. A third brother, Dr. Maxie Sprott, joined them in 1955. The doctors and other family members lived nearby, so the hospital was closely tied to the neighborhood it served.
The building went up quickly. Construction began on June 19, 1944, a date many Texans will recognize as Juneteenth. Local architect Wallace B. Livesay designed it, contractor H. B. Neild built it, and the total cost was $25,900. It opened on October 1, 1944, in the Cartwright Addition in southwest Beaumont. It was a one-story brick building with a flat roof and a stuccoed band beneath the roofline.
The hospital was small but offered a wide range of care: laboratory and X-ray services, obstetrics and pediatrics, minor surgery, and urgent care. In 1951 it was accepted into the Texas Hospital Association, which confirmed that it met professional standards. The hospital also offered nursing courses and training, preparing young people from the community for careers in medicine.
As segregation in health care broke down, the need for a separate Black hospital declined. In 1969 the building became the home of Dr. Maxie Sprott's private practice, and it has continued to serve as a health care facility.
Its place in the American story
Sprott Hospital is part of a large national story. In the segregation era, Black doctors and nurses built a parallel system of hospitals and clinics because the mainstream system excluded their patients and often excluded them as practitioners. For many communities, these institutions made the difference between getting care and getting none.
Most were small and depended on the dedication of a few people, often a single family. Their contribution went beyond treating patients. They trained nurses, offered Black medical professionals a place to practice, and showed that their communities could provide excellent care on their own terms.
The story also has an ironic ending. When federal civil rights law and new federal health programs in the 1960s pushed hospitals to desegregate, many Black hospitals lost the reason they had been founded, and a large number closed. Sprott Hospital's transition in 1969 fits that pattern. That the building is still standing, and still used for health care, makes it an unusually complete survivor of that period.
If you visit
The building is in the Cartwright Addition of southwest Beaumont. It has changed since 1944: the original brick is now stuccoed, a gabled roof has replaced the flat one, and a single glass door has replaced the double entry doors. The overall plan is the same, though. Look for the one-story rectangular shape, the central entrance, and the row of single and paired windows across the front.
The site is still connected with health care, so be considerate. View it from public areas, and do not disturb anyone who may be there for medical treatment. Imagine the building when it was new, when families came here because other hospitals had turned them away.
Beaumont is on Interstate 10 between Houston and Louisiana. This marker fits well into a route that explores the Gulf Coast's African American history and civil rights story. It is a quick stop, but a meaningful one, and a good reminder that some of the most important history happened in modest buildings on ordinary neighborhood streets.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Edward D. Sprott, Jr.
- · Curtis B. Sprott
- · Maxie Sprott
Themes & tags
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