Oakdale was an unincorporated rural residential village established in 1908[2][3] by the State of Iowa as a state-wide treatment center for tuberculosis (TB) in rural Johnson County, located about five miles northwest of central Iowa City and now a part of Coralville, immediately adjacent to the community of North Liberty.[4]
The site was chosen for its remoteness, its location along a railroad,[5] and its proximity to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City.
Oakdale view, 1928As a partially self-sustaining community, Oakdale included a depot on the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway (CRandIC) line,[6] power plant, several residential patient and staff buildings, pharmacy, postal, and administrative units, as well as associated facilities to support varied farming operations intended to help sustain the institution, including a large dairy.
Treatment protocols during much of Oakdale's more than half-century of operation included a regimen of rest, fresh air year around,[7] and a nutritious diet. Before its naming in 1839, TB had been called "consumption" during much of its 4,500-year history as a human disease dating from Babylonian writings and Egyptian mummies.
Beginning with just eight patients but ending its first year with 45 in residence,[2] growth at Oakdale forced repeated expansions,[8] including a major one during 1926. Size of the associated farm ground also was increased to nearly 500 acres (200 hectares) from an original 280 acres (110 hectares). Its patient census peaked during the 1940s at about 400.
Improving public health standards and development of the first drug cure for TB in 1944 caused Oakdale usage to decline and the facility was morphed briefly into an alcohol treatment center about 1960 as alternate uses were sought. The entire facility and land were transferred to University of Iowa ownership in 1965,[9] and the last tuberculosis patient was transferred to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in 1981.[10]
The university established its Agricultural Medical Research Facility at Oakdale in 1966 as the first step of a major evolution of this rural satellite campus, which now also houses the State Hygienic Laboratory in a new facility, as well as the university's 197-acre Oakdale Research Park, where, among many other facilities, the National Advanced Driving Simulator[11] is located.
A separate entity that also carries the Oakdale name because of its proximity but was never a part of historic Oakdale, the Iowa prison system's Iowa Medical and Classification Center is located immediately across the road from the main Oakdale campus. The facility was opened in 1969 on slightly more than 50 acres (20 hectares) and now has more than 500 beds. It includes prison system entry from all parts of Iowa, plus the state-wide prisoner medical treatment and psychiatric units. It also houses a maximum security facility.
| Oakdale Tuberculosis Sanitarium Images from the Bob Hibbs Collections of Postcards and Photographs |
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| Original 1908 building housed the entire institution. It later served as admissions office and staff quarters. |
| South Porch Cottage about 1910 housed patients so air flowed beneath. Units were connected by covered walkways. |
| CRandIC railroad depot at Oakdale about 1908. The Oakdale site was selected for its seclusion and commuter rail access. |
| Treatment was nutritious meals, bed rest, and copious fresh air. Patients had rooms inside, but slept outside on porches. |
| Patients also slept out on porches during the winter months, sometimes even while snow covered the ground -- and them. |
| Doctors and nurses lived at Oakdale in quarters provided by the institution. No identifications were left with this image. |
| A North Porch patients' cottage image is postmarked 1915 at Oakdale . Message includes: "I think I shall like it here . . ." |
| A smaller patients' cottage housed kids at one time, later new patients. It is hand dated at Oakdale as May 24, 1911. |
| The absence of sleeping porches marks this building as not for patient residences. It was erected to house resident staff. |
| Carrying American Lung Assoc. double-barred Lorraine crosses, this multi-use structure had rooms for resident nurses. |
| This first section of huge Oakdale Hall was opened during 1917, and became the principal patient residence structure. |
| This 1937 administrative wing replaced the 1908 original institution building, moving staff from several blocks away. |
| A new auditorium provided space for the patients and staff via interior access from original Oakdale Hall and the staff wing. |
| A final Oakdale Hall unit was this 1950s glassy eastern wing, later part of the temporary home to State Hygienic Lab. |
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Oakdale". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2011-06-04.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Iowa Official Register" (1909-10) Office of the Secretary of State, State of Iowa, Des Moines, p268
- ↑ Hibbs, Bob, "Iowa City" (2010) Arcadia Publishing "Postcard History Series", p15-16 including four photographs
- ↑ "Iowa Official Register" (1906) Office of the Secretary of State, State of Iowa, Des Moines, p231-234
- ↑ Mansheim, Gerald "Iowa City, an illustrated history" (1989) The Donning Co publishers p157 and photograph p158
- ↑ Hibbs, Bob, "Saturday Postcard 194: Oakdale State Tuberculosis Sanatorium" (2003) Johnson County IAGenWeb Project, on line at http://iagenweb.org/johnson/PostcardHibbs/postcard12.htm
- ↑ Hibbs, Bob "Iowa City" (2010) Arcadia Publishing "Postcard History Series" p15 photo
- ↑ Hibbs, Bob, "Iowa City, a sense of place, Volume II" (2006) Iowa City Press-Citizen publisher, p143
- ↑ Mansheim, Gerald "Iowa City, an illustrated history" (1989) The Donning Co publishers p186
- ↑ Scott, John Beldon and Lehnertz, Rodney P. "The University of Iowa Guide to Campus Architecture" (2006) The University of Iowa Press p204
- ↑ Scott, John Beldon and Lehnertz, Rodney P. "The University of Iowa Guide to Campus Architecture" (2006) The University of Iowa Press p210
United States
Iowa
