Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
This historic marker in English Village shows the spot of the first Tuberculosis Sanitorium in north Alabama. The plaque details that a group of tents provided medical sanctuary to victims of the disease in 1910.
Poor sanitation, a lack of medical advancements, and cramped living conditions contributed to the spread of tuberculosis in the 20ᵗʰ century. The infectious nature of the respiratory disease forced patients into isolation.
A historical marker in English Village commemorates the site where the first tuberculosis sanatorium in North Alabama was established in 1910.
The sanatorium in Mountain Brook did not resemble the brick-and-mortar hospitals of today. Instead, the Anti-Tuberculosis Association of Jefferson County set up tents to isolate and treat patients. Even after the sanatorium moved to Red Mountain in 1912, tuberculosis remained a leading cause of death into the 1950s.
