Candler Hospital
Georgia's first hospital, Candler is the
second oldest continuously operating
hospital in the United States. Its history
began in the 1730s when Methodist
missionary George Whitfield brought
medicines to treat sick seamen and
the poor. Chartered in 1804 as a
seaman's hospital and poor house, it
was later incorporated in 1808 under
the name Savannah Poor House and
Hospital Society. In 1819, the hospital
moved to Gaston Street where it
remained for 160 years. After Union
forces occupied Savannah, the
building served as a Union Hospital
until 1866. Renamed the Savannah
Hospital in 1872, it later housed the
city's first nursing school which opened
in 1902. The Methodist Church purchased
the hospital in 1930, renaming it for
Bishop Warren A. Candler. In 1960, the
hospital joined forces with the country's
oldest woman's hospital, Mary Telfair.
In 1978 groundbreaking ceremonies
were held on this site and the facility
was completed in October 1980. In 1992
it was renamed Candler Hospital and in
1997, the hospital entered a joint
operating agreement with St. Joseph's
Hospital, forming St. Joseph Candler
Health System.
Marker can be reached from Reynolds Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
