Memorial Hospital began in 1888 as the Western Maryland Home at 64 Bedford St. near North Centre Street. It grew steadily as the medical needs of a growing city increased. It also changed its purpose over the years from its beginnings when 15 Cumberland women started what was essentially a nursing home.
As the need for medical care increased among area residents, the name of the home changed to the Western Maryland Home and Infirmary and then the Western Maryland Hospital. It also began a series of location changes as the number of patients increased.
In 1921, Gov. Albert C. Ritchie appointed John Schwarzenbach as director of the Western Maryland Hospital. It was also decided that a new larger hospital was needed to replace Western Maryland Hospital.
Land with 800 feet of frontage on Washington (now Memorial) Avenue was purchased for $30,000. This would be the site of a new hospital and a temporary six-room building to be used as a rest home for nurses until a permanent one could be built.
According to Herman Miller in “Cumberland, Maryland, through the Eyes of Herman J. Miller,” “The hospital building cost was $500,000. The furniture and equipment cost around $40,000. The Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home, when completed, would cost between $650,000 and $700,000, it was estimated, taking into consideration the many rooms donated by generous local people.”
It was announced in April 1928 that preliminary work on the hospital foundation would be complete enough to lay the cornerstone for Memorial Hospital on Memorial Day, which fell on May 30. Besides being dedicated on Memorial Day, the hospital was considered a memorial in itself. It was dedicated to the local men who had given their lives fighting in World War I.
The ceremony, which also served as a Memorial Day celebration for the city, began with a parade from the Maryland Armory to the work site for the hospital. Military and ex-servicemen formed up at 1:30 p.m. and the parade began promptly at 2 p.m. Company G, First Regiment, Maryland National Guard, with Capt. Arthur P. Dixon commanding led the parade, followed by the American Legion Drum Corps under Drum Major Russell C. Paupe. Other participants included the Tyler Post Grand Army of the Republic, Howard Hartsock Camp Spanish American War Veterans, Fort Cumberland Post No. 13, American Legion, and Henry Hart Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and finally, the municipal band.
At the hospital site on Memorial Avenue, the Rev. James A. Dwyer, assistant pastor of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, formerly commanding officer of U.S. Subchaser No. 211 with the rank of ensign, offered the invocation.
The audience sang “America” and Chamber of Commerce Secretary George Young read a list of items that had been placed in the cornerstone. Mayor Thomas W. Koon and Charles W. Fuller, commander of Fort Cumberland Post No. 13 of the American Legion, then completed the laying of the cornerstone.
Lt. Col. Thomas W. Pierce of the 325th Infantry delivered a Memorial Day address to the crowd.
The event ended with singing “America the Beautiful” and the Rev. Henry F. Kloman, pastor of Emmanuel Episcopal Church and a World War I chaplain, delivering the benediction.
The completed hospital was dedicated on Aug. 18, 1929. Chairman of the Board of Governors Thomas B. Finan presided over the event. Many of the same people who had attended the cornerstone dedication also participated.
After the dedication, Boy Scouts served as guides taking interested people through the new facility.
When Memorial Hospital opened for business the following day, there were already 25 patients waiting to be admitted. The Western Maryland Hospital continued operating until the end of August when all of its remaining patients were transferred to Memorial Hospital, which went on to become a fixture in Cumberland until 2009 when the Western Maryland Regional Medical Center opened on Willowbrook Road.