Hospital Room

This room displays some of the machines and instruments used in an operating room of the 1940s on the right compared to the 1890s on the left. Imagine the people who came through these doors after the building opened as the St. Joseph's Miners' Hospital in 1887. Some came worried and in pain, others with hope and joy. Miners walked or were carried in frequently, injured in premature blasts, hurt by the misplaced swing of a hammer in candlelight, crushed in cave-ins. Freighters came hurt in roll-overs on dangerous roads or when swept away by avalanches. The "sporting crowd" came when shoot-outs broke out at Faro tables, "Ladies of the night" came when despair drove them to poison themselves. Children came with typhus, diphtheria, influenza, and other diseases which terrorized parents and communities. Mothers came to give birth. Millionaires, paupers, preachers, blind poets, surveyors, visionaries, lawmen, lawyers, law breakers, thieves, bankers, ranchers, heroes, and villains all came though these doors. Many people were born here; many people died here. The Sisters of Mercy, doctors and nurses worked hard to care for all who were infirm. During your visit we hope you'll learn about some of their stories. The hospital closed in 1964. The Ouray County Historical Society and Museum were conceived in 1971. The Museum is ever growing and changing to serve you.