Molly Stark Sanatorium

Opened in 1929, Molly Stark Sanatorium was one of 25 tuberculosis hospitals in Ohio. The main four-story Spanish Revival style facility wasn’t the only structure to occupy the property; there was also a nurse’s home, a supervisor’s home, a children’s hospital, and a power plant. Some 1,200 feet of underground tunneling connecting the buildings completed the hospital grounds, for now. In 1952, the west and east wings as well as the kitchen and laundry rooms were expanded despite the noticeable decline in deaths caused by tuberculosis.

In 1956, the name was changed to Molly Stark Hospital, and the facility began admitting patients suffering from other medical ailments. In 1975, a surge of staff resignations and financial decline put the hospital’s future at risk. The decline in the patients and infrastructure would lead to its official closure in 1995.

After various plans proposed to the county by local developers failed, the county park board purchased the structures and grounds in 2008 for $1. What was left of Molly Stark Hospital and the land surrounding it was opened as a public park in 2009 and remains a public attraction to this day.