Formerly known as Williamson Memorial Hospital, the Old Hospital on College Hill is an abandoned hospital in Williamson, West Virginia. It was established in 1918 to provide health care service to the residents. Hospital named after Wallace J. Williamson, the son of Benjamin Williamson who once owned all the land that is now known as the City of Williamson.
A nursing school was established next to it on Mulberry Street on a hilltop site overlooking the city in 1920. On January 12, 1927, a massive fire gutted the Williamson Hospital and destroyed the original structure downtown. The new Old Hospital on College Hill opened on a small hill overlooking the city on March 3, 1928.
This 50-Bed state of the art facility served as a hospital for 60 Years. The hospital was built with funds from selling bonds to the business owners of Williamson, which were all paid off by 1939.
Most locals can recall taking the long winding walk around the side of the building to the basement area where the emergency room, radiology department, cafeteria and lab were located. The ICU was located on the 1st floor, obstetrics on the 2nd floor, medical & surgical rooms on the 3rd floor and a pharmacy was located on the 4th floor.
Over time, the hospital began treating a higher ratio of patients without health insurance or those who relied on government assistance, such as Medicaid or Medicare, that do not fully reimburse treatment costs.
In 1979, the facility was sold to Hospital Managements Association, Inc. where the hospital remained in use until 1988. Then, a new, more modern facility was constructed just up the street. The old hospital was renovated and utilized as physicians’ offices over the next 26 years and since 2014 the building had been used for storage.
In 2020, the Williamson Memorial Hospital was purchased by private investors, with the intent of saving the historic building and sharing that history with the public…as well as offering a really awesome spooky tourism opportunity.
Few years ago the facility reopened to the public as a host to both paranormal and historic tour opportunities. You can book a tour to spend time inside America’s most haunted abandoned buildings.
