Scarlet Fever

A century ago tuberculosis was spreading throughout the United States. Known as the white plague, medical opinion at the time suggested that the fresh air had a curative effect on this disease which attacked the body’s respiratory system. Sanatoriums were established outside of major cities across the nation to separate the sick and to open them to the pure, healing air.

One of these sanatoriums was built by an order of nuns; far from the polluted cities it served only young children suffering from tuberculosis. Unbeknownst to the nuns the very treatment they provided others began to poison themselves. The lack of sewage sanitation, provided by the same city they sought to escape, slowly destroyed their tiny community.

As time passed the nuns began to come down with the scarlet fever. Young children are largely protected from the disease for reasons still not fully understood today. After the deaths of several adults the well was filled in and the living returned to the city, leaving the dead behind.

Since that dark time this building has passed through many hands. Today, like the bodies of its victims, it too has been left behind.