DUANE
Duane's take
The marker in Canadian, Hemphill County tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along. Now, most buildings have a story. This one has a building, a story, and a tornado — so settle in.
What stands here today as a private residence was once Canadian's first hospital, and it opened its doors on June 16, 1917. Nobody waited on a wealthy benefactor to fund the thing, either. The money came from public subscription — the community passing the hat, neighbor to neighbor, until there was enough to build something that mattered.
Dr. H. C.
Caylor was the first owner, and he ran the place until 1920, when he sold it to Dr. L. V.
Dawson. Then in 1924, a Dr. E.
H. Morris took ownership, and he held on to it all the way through 1949. Three doctors, one building, decades of tending to the people of the Texas Panhandle.
But here is the moment that proved what this hospital truly was worth — and it came on April 9, 1947. A tornado tore through the Glazier-Higgins area, somewhere between ten and twenty-seven miles to the northeast, and when it was done, somewhere between two hundred and two hundred and sixty people had been killed or hurt. Those numbers alone should stop you cold.
That's not a bad storm. That is a catastrophe rolled across the plains. And this hospital — this one building, funded by neighbors and run by three doctors over the years — was the only one in the immediate vicinity.
The word the marker uses is "dramatized." It dramatized the worth of this hospital. I'd say that's about as understated as Texas gets. The hospital closed in 1949, the same year Dr.
Morris's ownership came to an end. The building stayed. Became a home.
And now there's a marker out front, making sure nobody just drives past without knowing what happened here — and what this place meant when it mattered most.
What the marker says
This building, now a residence, was Canadian's first hospital, opened on June 16, 1917. Funds for construction were obtained by public subscription. Dr. H. C. Caylor, first owner, sold to Dr. L. V. Dawson in 1920. From 1924 to 1949, Dr. E. H. Morris was owner. A tornado that killed or hurt some 200 to 260 people in the Glazier-Higgins area (10 to 27 mi. NE) on April 9, 1947, dramatized worth of this hospital - the only one in the immediate vicinity. It was closed in 1949. Recorded Texas Historical Landmark - 1970