At approximately 3 a.m. on Thursday, October 28, the doors to the hospital building serving Dorchester County for over a hundred years closed forever. Later that day, a new health headquarters opened across town at Cambridge Marketplace on Rt. 50.
The freestanding medical facility replacing the venerable landmark has been heralded for providing long overdue state of the art upgrades and improvements. Still, the old hospital’s closing has conjured a flood of memories not soon forgotten.
To honor that treasured century old legacy, UM Shore Regional Health Center administrators have planned a dedicated wall display at the second floor Medical Pavilion.
Trena Williamson, Regional Director of Marketing and Communications for Shore Regional Health, has been working to visually commemorate the hospital’s origins and growth over the years.
The Dorchester County Historical Society has been assisting Williamson in locating photos, documents, articles, and artifacts for the permanent exhibit, including:
- Written history and timeline –1898 –1943
- Hardcopy –First Annual Report –dated 1899 (plus many subsequent reports)
- Various historical articles –early 1900s to present day
- Photography -1890s to present day
- Bound book of handwritten RSVPs from 1904 gala opening of the Cambridge Maryland Hospital
- Hardcopy –80th Anniversary “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” with updated history
- Several nursing uniforms, including cap and pattern for 1st cap
- Wool nurse’s cape
- Bronze and other plaques
In another nod to history, UM Shore Regional Health CEO Ken Kozel announced that the new facility’s Community Education Room on the newly opened facility has been named for the late Ida Jane Baker, a prolific fundraising force volunteering for over 60 years. A founder of the Dorchester Hospital Foundation in 1988, Baker was still serving as the group’s president when she died at age 91 in May 2021.
Williamson recalled that once the iconic signage spelling out Dorchester General Hospital on the wall came down, Baker was given the letters as an honorary keepsake befitting her contributions.
She had been the latest in a long line of citizens dedicated to helping the hospital thrive since its earliest days on High Street between Gay and Poplar in an area known as “Brick Row.”
Dr. Brice Goldsborough, a leading founder, in his first annual report following consolidation as United Charities Hospital (1898,99) commended the ministerial association of Cambridge for its successful fundraising efforts, and for reaching out to “the ladies of Cambridge and Dorchester County” to help with the cause. Goldsborough noted the female citizens’ zeal and energy in gathering contributions, including instituting an annual benefit bazaar.
Goldsborough also paid tribute to the “prominent citizens” willing to serve as directors and petition the state legislature for essential funding, resulting in a grant of $1,500 per year.
The hospital attracted additional medical staff and state funding, and more patients were able to be treated. The community, which had so strongly rallied behind the hospital, began to contemplate building a new and larger facility. Support poured in for the idea.
Mr. and Mrs. William Fletcher donated a parcel of land at 300 Byrn Street and John E. Hurst promised $15,000 towards construction costs, eventually bequeathing an additional $15,000 in his will. The Maryland legislature appropriated an additional $5,000 and authorized Dorchester County to issue bonds to help raise $5,000 more.
On May 26, 1903 a cornerstone laying ceremony was presided over by Masonic Grand Master Thomas J. Shyrock, with the Masons donating costs. Designed by Baltimore architect George Archer, the new facility was constructed by Benjamin Brown, ultimately costing between $65,000 and $75,000. The opening day, November 17, 1904, became a de facto holiday, with schools closed for the afternoon and Circuit Court proceedings were adjourned. Sixty medical professionals traveled from Baltimore with their wives to attend, and the Governor spoke, commenting that the new Cambridge Maryland Hospital was one of only two such Eastern Shore institutions–the other being Salisbury’s Peninsula General Hospital.
The name stuck through WWII but was eventually changed to Dorchester General Hospital until 1996 when it merged with Memorial Hospital at Easton, officially known as Shore Health System. Ten years later Shore Health became affiliated with the University of Maryland.
Over the years, different names replaced the familiar ones high atop the Byrn Street building’s outer wall overlooking the Choptank River. And last month, at long last, the edifice serving generations had been retired. But the hometown community hospital’s legacy lives on.
Debra Messick is a retired Dorchester County Public Library associate and lifelong freelance writer. A transplanted native Philadelphian, she has enjoyed residing in Cambridge MD since 1995.
Lexine Lowe says
The gorgeous old trees which edge the parking lot are also a part of the hospital’s heritage. Does anyone know if they will be protected as development proceeds at the site? They are listed as Maryland Big Trees and the larger of the two is the fourth largest of its type in Maryland. I know they were also very dear to Mrs. Baker.
Mike Driscoll says
Excellent work dmr