THE MANOR SANITARIUM

A short article published in The Houston Post newspaper on December 12, 1904 gave Manor area residents hope that they might soon have access to a local hospital. It read, in part;

“A movement was started here some time ago among the Swedish people to establish a hospital. Enough stock has been subscribed to insure the erection and furnishing of a hospital that will be a credit to this section”.

Doctor John August Stroburg would be the person in charge of the hospital.

An option to purchase had been secured on land and buildings owned by J.W. Bitting in Manor.

The February 21, 1905 edition of The Austin American newspaper listed company charters that had been filed recently. Among them was The Manor Sanitarium.

On March 20, 1905 J.W. Bitting and Margaret Ava Bitting, his wife, sold all of block 51, made up of ten lots, and the property located thereon, to a corporation titled The Manor Sanitarium. The purchase price was $4000.

Travis County Deed Record 199, page 116

Only forty days later, an April 30, 1905 article in The Austin Statesman newspaper stated that work being done on The Manor Sanitarium building was nearing completion. A new plumbing system was being installed at that time.

The 1906 edition of Polks Medical Register and Directory of North America listed The Manor Sanitarium as a private hospital with a bed capacity of 20.

Newspaper articles over the next few years confirmed that the Manor Sanitarium was in business, taking care of Manor area residents.

The Austin American Statesman January 16, 1907

The Austin American Statesman August 8, 1907

The Houston Post October 19, 1908

In August, 1907 the directors and stockholders held a meeting to discuss what appeared to be financial problems with the Sanitarium. The directors were instructed to lease the property, or failing in that effort, to sell it. Their instructions stipulated, however, that whether the property was retained, leased or sold, it was to always be used for the purposes of a sanitarium.

The Austin American Statesman newspaper August 9th and 12th

The following advertisement was printed in the Texas Medical Journal, published in Austin, for the months of October, November and December 1907:

On May 18, 1911 The Austin Statesman newspaper gave notice that a suit had been filed against the Manor Sanitarium by the Farmers National Bank of Manor in an attempt to collect $2976.65 with interest and penalties due on a note held by the bank.

On May 27th, the bank won their lawsuit and Travis County Sheriff G.S. Matthews was ordered to sell the Sanitarium at public auction to the highest bidder.

Travis County Deed Record 246, page 121

On August 1, 1911 all of block 51 “with all improvements on said block and lots thereof” was sold to A.K. (Adolph Knut) Anderson for a bid of $3000. Mr. Anderson was one of the original members of the Manor Sanitarium when it was incorporated in 1905.

Travis County Deed Record 246, page 122

A Travis County deed record dated November 29, 1911 transferred ownership of block 51, “with all improvements on said block” from A.K. Anderson and wife Julia M. Anderson to Peter Gustafson and Chas. A. Anderson. The new owners would each have one-half interested in the property. Chas. A. Anderson was Peter Gustafson’s son-in-law, having married his daughter, Augusta Mathilda Gustafson on September 18, 1907. A.K. Anderson and his wife, received $3000 for the property – the same amount he had paid for it at the auction on August 1^st.

Dr. Stroburg moved to Austin in 1911 where he opened an office on the second floor of the Littlefield building at 6^th and Congress Ave.

Travis County Probate Records book 33, page 215 states that at the time of his death on July 16, 1913 Peter Gustafson still owned his one-half interest in block 51, which was appraised at $2500. In accordance with his Last Will and Testament dated February 14, 1908, his widow, Anna Marie Gustafson became owner of all of his property, including his half interest in block 51.

On December 31, 1919 Anna M. Gustafson sold her half interest in block 51 to Chas. A. Anderson, thereby making him sole owner of all of block 51, including the Manor Sanitarium which still existed there.

A headline in the September 24, 1920 edition of The Austin American Statesmen newspaper in Austin read;

“MANOR HOSPITAL BURNS; AUSTIN FIREMEN SAVE ADJOINING PROPERTY”

The article went on to say;

“At 7:30 o’clock Friday morning Fire Chief C.L. Woodward received an emergency call from Manor, fifteen miles east of Austin, where the three-story frame hospital building was reported burning. Local authorities were unable to get the fire under control, the call stated, and assistance was requested at once. Within a few minutes Chief Woodward and four men of Engine Company No. 1 were under way for Manor.

At 8:30 o’clock Assistant Chief Wooly, who was in charge of the Central Fire Station, received a message that the Austin firemen had reached Manor a few minutes before and had succeeded in getting the fire under control. Frame buildings on either side of the burning hospital were saved by Chief Woodward’s men, who arrived just at the critical moment.
Members of Engine Company No. 1 who went to Manor to fight the fire stated upon their return to the Central Station at noon that the building was a total loss. Two patients who were in the hospital when the fire broke out were carried to safety by Manor firemen. In addition surgical instruments and the greater portion of the hospital equipment were rescued from the flames.
The fire originated in the attic of the hospital building. Defective electric wire is thought to have been the cause. The estimated loss according to Chief Woodward, ranges between $1000 and $2000.”

By way of Travis County Deed Record dated September 10, 1924 Chas. A. Anderson and wife Augusta Anderson, sold block 51 to C.H. Wilson for the sum of $8000. The transaction is recorded in Book 365, page 168-169. Mr. Wilson made a down payment of $4800 and a promissory note for $3200 bearing interest at the rate of 7% per annum was signed by both parties – the note being due and payable on January 1, 1930. Mr. Wilson was also required to keep the property insured against fire in the amount of $3000. If he failed to do so, Mr. Anderson could insure the property with the amount of the insurance payments plus 8% interest being considered as a lien against the property which must also be paid by Mr. Wilson.

Three years later, on September 26, 1927, in return for a $10 payment from Chas. A. Anderson and cancellation of the promissory note for $3200, C.H. Wilson deeded all of block 51 including, “all buildings, fixtures, fences, out-houses and other improvements now situated on said block of land” back to Chas. A. Anderson. Mr. Anderson would assume all taxes due on the property and once again become owner of the former Manor Sanitarium property.

Dr. Stroburg died October 22, 1926 and was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Austin. His obituary from the Texas State Journal of Medicine in 1927 read as follows;

HEADSTONE FOOTSTONE

The Manor Sanitarium building appears to have been a residence owned by J. W. Bitting prior to his selling block 51 in Manor to the Sanitarium corporation in 1905. Whether or not he lived in the house is uncertain. In support of this belief the following is offered;

The newspaper article from 1904 states that "an option has been obtained on the residence and block of ground"...
Block 51 was sold to The Manor Sanitarium on March 20, 1905 and the newspaper article (dated only forty days later) from April 30, 1905 states that work being done on the building was nearing completion at that time.
According to the great grandson of Dr. Stroburg, the family, made up of Dr. Stroburg, wife Sophie, son John Berndt and adopted daughter Lillian, lived in the house/hospital.

The Manor Sanitarium/Hospital was located on land which is now only one block away from Manor City Hall.