Historic Whitlock Place started off as the Culver Union Hospital in 1902. The idea to open up a hospital in Montgomery County was first conceived in an 1897 meeting of the Women's Union. They decided to act upon this idea. The first donation, $12 to fund the hospital was received on Thanksgiving day, 1898. On April 1, 1901 a donation of $10,000 was awarded to the Women's Union from Mrs. Mary Culver of St. Louis in honor of her late husband, L.L. Culver. This is how the name of the hospital came to be. The hospital officially opened on November 27, 1902.
In 1927, the hospital duties were shifted from the Women's Union to Montgomery County. Shortly after, construction of a new building began. A new building, in the Colonial revival architecture style was opened on May 12, 1929. It could hold forty-five patients. The old building became the nurse's quarters. In 1939, construction began on a wing to connect the old and new buildings. It opened in 1942.
The original building, turned nurses' quarters was demolished in 1950 per orders of the fire marshal. Its basement was able to still be used. This section of the property remained empty until 1966 when a new wing was constructed there. It is in the office-industrial architecture style. There were a couple more additions added on throughout the years. There are tow additions on the rear of the building dating back to 1971 and 1977, also in the office-industrial style.
In the later years of the hospital's operation, it also was home to the Social Security office, a food pantry, and the assistance office. In 1983, a new hospital was completed on Highway 231 and all patents were moved to the new facility and Culver Union Hospital closed its doors. The Social Security office, food pantry, and assistance office remained for a few years but all eventually moved out as well.
The facility was sold to American Medical International for re-use for medical purposes, but this never worked out. The building slipped into further and further decay in nearly thirty years of abandonment. It became a major issue in Crawfordsville. It brought property values in the neighborhood down, and it was a hot spot for illegal activity such as drug use, graffiti tagging, vandalism, and unauthorized "paranormal" investigations. It really brought its neighborhood down.
All this changed in 2012 when Flaherty & Collins Properties began an adaptive reuse project on the site, which would be called Historic Whitlock Place. The company gutted the building and rebuilt the inside, recreating many original features of the building including bull-nose corner walls, terrazzo floors, and ornate wood stenciling in the hallways. Historic Whitlock Place is now affordable housing that features studio, 1 bedroom, and 2 bedroom apartments.
OPINION:
I remember going by the old hospital as a kid and being terrified of it. It is a massive, sprawled-out building that at the time was covered in ivy and almost every window was busted or boarded up. I drove around it again in September and the change is amazing. The building built in 1929 looks stunningly beautiful again, but the additions from 1966, 1971, and 1977 take away from it. There are at least three different brick styles used to construct the building, which clash horribly. The office-industrial style additions also do not go very well with a Colonial revival building. Nonetheless, Historic Whitlock Place is starting to bring its neighborhood back and the trouble is starting to make its way out. This building is a useful part of Crawfordsville again and it proudly serves the community once again. It's grand re-opening was held on November 18, 2016. This national landmark has been "healed" and is back better than ever!
*Check out Wabash Paranormal Research Society's Facebook page to check out interior and exterior pictures from 2012, just weeks before work began. Also, check out flco.com/company-properties/historic-whitlock-place/
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