DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Snyder Sanitarium, right here in Somervell County. Now, you have to understand something about Glen Rose before any of this makes sense. The land itself was practically advertising.
Hundreds of natural springs and artesian wells — hundreds — bubbling right up out of the earth. By the turn of the century, word had gotten around that this was a place you came to feel better. A health resort, tucked down in the Texas hills, fed by water comin' straight from the ground.
That kind of setting has a way of attracting a certain kind of man with a certain kind of vision. Enter George Paul Snyder. Born in California in 1878, Snyder made his way to Glen Rose and in 1915 he opened a sanitarium.
Now the operation must have taken hold pretty quick, because four years later — 1919 — he put up a two-story structure just to keep up with the demand. His clientele was growin', and he built accordingly. But here's the detail that tends to stick with people when they hear this story: Snyder kept a small zoo on the grounds.
Not just a curiosity for out-of-town guests recuperating in the fresh air — no, that little zoo became a landmark for the townspeople themselves. The locals were coming to see what Snyder had going on just as much as anybody who'd traveled in seeking a cure. That's the kind of place it was.
George Paul Snyder died in 1942, and when he was gone, the sanitarium didn't close its doors. His family and associates carried it forward, keeping the operation running all the way into the 1970s. Decades of healin', right there on the same grounds where the springs once drew folks from who knows where.
Some things take root in the right soil and just don't let go.
What the marker says
Hundreds of natural springs and artesian wells made Glen Rose a health resort at the turn of the century. George Paul Snyder (1878-1942), a native of California, opened a sanitarium here in 1915. He built this two-story structure in 1919 to accommodate his growing clientele. Snyder kept a small zoo which became a landmark for townspeople as well as guests. After Snyder's death, his family and associates operated the sanitarium until the 1970s. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985