Oddsconsin...where we explore peculiar and sometimes mysterious features of Wisconsin’s human landscape.
A century ago, tuberculosis sanatoriums could be found in every corner of the state. According to a 1900 estimate, tuberculosis (TB) killed over 2000 Wisconsin residents per year – about 1 in every 10 deaths. A 1911 Wisconsin law authorized counties to establish TB sanatoriums with a state appropriation of $20,000 per year and $3 per week per patient. By 1919, sanatoriums existed in at least 13 counties, with space for over 1000 patients.
Mt. Washington Sanatorium, also known as the Eau Claire Tuberculosis Sanatorium, was established in 1913. It sits on the west side of the city of Eau Claire, on land donated by a philanthropic organization, the Women of the Eau Claire Anti-Tuberculosis Association. It was open to all classes of patients, including children, and had a capacity of 45.
A second, larger building was constructed in 1937 and the original building burned down in 1948. The 1937 building survives today. Its architectural style, a modern interpretation of Neoclassical/Beaux Arts, was often employed for institutional buildings at the time, and features a prominent entranceway in the center with flanking, symmetrical wings.
The 1937 building was constructed by the WPA (Works Progress Administration, later renamed Work Projects Administration), which was created during the Great Depression under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. The WPA employed over 8 million people on almost 1.5 million public projects before it was disbanded in World War II. WPA workers built parks, roads, bridges, schools, and other public structures across the country.
Mt. Washington sits on the south side of a hill. The building’s two wings spread out like open arms to gather the sun’s rays. This was all intentional. During this era, the main cure for TB was plenty of fresh air and sunshine. Site location for TB sanatoriums was a topic of discussion in the 1905 Report of the Wisconsin State Tuberculosis Commission delivered to then-Governor “Fighting Bob” La Follette. The report recommended locations with low humidity, an “equability” of temperature, plenty of sunshine and protection from winds. All of this was best served by “placing the building on the southern aspect of good sized hills … covered with vigorous forest growth.”
The higher elevation also prevented patients being exposed to fogs, provided opportunities for exercise, and offered favorable views and vistas for patients’ mental well-being. Sanatoriums were also supposed to be situated close to a supply of pure water, eggs, milk and vegetables, which constituted the main diet of TB patients.
TB was seen as a disease of poor sanitation, bad ventilation and overcrowding. The 1905 report notes that “the disease is more prevalent where the density of population is the greatest.” Of all factors, fresh air was seen as the most important curative agent. According to the authors of the report, “In the open air the body quickly acquires a degree of resistance that enables it to throw off the disease.” By the 1920s, this idea was taken to extremes, and some TB patients were treated with pneumothorax, a procedure in which “sterile” air was injected between layers of the pleura in the patient's lungs.
While it is true that fresh air can help with TB symptoms, it does not cure the disease on its own. TB became routinely treatable after World War II, with the introduction of antibiotics. These medicines led to the demise of the state’s network of TB sanatoriums, including Mt. Washington, which closed in 1950. The building has been in private ownership for several years, and is surrounded by a chain link fence and “No Trespassing” signs. A developer plans to convert the structure into apartments, but as of January, 2025, the project is on hold for legal reasons.
In its current vacant state, the building, as seen from Cleveland Street, looks austere and grim. From the grounds, however, patients would have had a pleasant view southeast toward the bluffs flanking the Chippewa River. Air photos from as early as the 1930s (available here) show hiking trails leading up Mt. Washington to the north, where even better vistas would have been found. Given the state of medical knowledge a century ago, Mt. Washington was ideally located and would have offered the best TB care available in the area.