I recently wrote a brief story about Harriet Wade Rowley (aka, “Mother Rowley”), celebrated as Skagit Valley’s “Angel of Mercy” and a caregiver who fully lived into the Hippocratic Oath. The story related her history in the Magic Skagit, including her founding of Rowley Hospital in 1920.

At the time I wrote this story, I was under the assumption that Rowley General Hospital was the first hospital in Mount Vernon. Thanks to the engagement of our our Meyer Sign audience, however, I now realize that there was already a hospital in our fair city at the time Harriet Rowley’s namesake was founded: Mount Vernon General Hospital.

In the comment section of our Meyer Sign Facebook post with the link to the Harriet Rowley story, follower Heather Argyle had this to say: I was just revisiting a favorite book of mine by Arcadia Publishing titled “Mt. Vernon” as I visited the recently opened Bagel Factory, and was thinking about that building. Here is a photo from that book.

As you can see in the caption appearing with said photo, Mount Vernon General Hospital was founded in June 1919 by Dr. Harry Thornton D’Arc. The caption goes on to say that prior to its establishment, the closest hospital to Mount Vernon had been in Burlington. In 1946, Mount Vernon General Hospital became a non-profit community hospital and was renamed Skagit General Hospital. The hospital closed in 1958 with the opening of Skagit Valley Hospital, and as my previous story related, Rowley General Hospital closed shortly thereafter.

The photo caption from the page in Heather Argyle’s book (thanks again, Heather!) cited the location of Mount Vernon General Hospital/Skagit General Hospital as 307 East Division Street — which surprised me considering how close that location is to the site of Rowley General Hospital, also on East Division. And in both cases, the hospital buildings were eventually converted into residential apartments.

The day after seeing Heather’s comment and attached photo, I hopped on my bike and pedaled over to 307 East Division to see what visual evidence remained of that location’s former significance. I snapped a few photos of the existing facade and then went looking for earlier images of its predecessor.

In doing a little online history sleuthing (which beats the heck out of doom scrolling Facebook, by the way), I came across a fantastic piece of Skagit Valley history straight out of no less a source than the Library of Congress. The publication I discovered was a 96-page magazine printed in 1921 entitled, “Skagit County, Washington; a magazine edition published by the Mount Vernon herald; being a frank, fair and accurate exposition, pictorially and otherwise, of the resources, industries, farming and dairying possibilities of this wonderful section of the great evergreen state.”

Apparently, short punchy titles weren’t a thing a century ago, but at least you knew what you were getting.

Sure enough, the photo of Mount Vernon General Hospital that appeared in the 1921 Herald Publishing Company publication shows a building that was clearly the progenitor of the Vernon Heights Apartments that we see in today’s Mount Vernon. Here’s what the magazine article had to say about the hospital that was formerly located there.

The Mount Vernon General hospital was built and equipped by Dr. Thornton D.’Arc and formally opened on June 9, 1919. It is most favorably situated, occupying as it does, one of the highest points of the beautiful hill residential district and commands a view of the Skagit flats, the windings of the Skagit river and the Sound with its islands in the distance. It is built to accommodate 20 to 25 patients and its entire equipment, including X-rays, surgery and room furnishings, is of the best. The nursing staff, under Miss Kathrine McMillan, consists of experienced graduate nurses, many of whom have had overseas experience. While the hospital is open to any regularly qualified reputable physician, it has a regular visiting and consulting staff. The former consists of the following: Dr. George Shorkley, internal medicine and obstetrics; Dr. J. W. Straight, diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat; Dr. Irving E. Lloyd, general medicine and laboratory; Dr. A. J. Osterman, general medicine; Drs. R. J. Cassel and Thornton D’Arc, surgery. Its consulting staff consists of Dr. J. B. Eagleson, surgery; Dr. Wm. Heussy, medicine; Drs. Peterkin and Peacock, urology.

I have to admit that my inner adolescent can’t help but imagine the thrill of sitting in a waiting room at Mount Vernon General Hospital and hearing, “Dr. Peacock, please report to urology…Dr. Peacock to urology.”

Seriously…tell me you weren’t thinking the same thing. And thanks again to our beloved Meyer Sign followers for sharing their personal connections with the stories we tell. By the way, having discovered the Library of Congress copy of the Herald Publishing Company magazine from 1921, you can bet I’m going to be sharing more of its content in future Facebook posts. There’s some amazing Magic Skagit history on every page.