Molly Stark Hospital, completed on October 23, 1929, was built at a cost of $1 million and began as a tuberculosis sanatorium. In the 1950s, architect Charles E. Firestone expanded the hospital, renovating the facade and adding the east and west wings. Patients could now rest under blankets on the veranda and breathe fresh air, which was considered one of the few cures for tuberculosis at the time. The hospital was renamed Molly Stark Hospital, after the wife of Maj. Gen. John Stark, commander at the Battle of Bennington. Tuberculosis patients were treated here until the 1970s when the number of patients declined, the remaining patients were transferred to other facilities, and the hospital was converted into a facility for the care and treatment of alcohol and drug addiction and the mentally challenged. As staff left and caseloads declined, the hospital officially closed in 1995.

Tuberculosis was a leading cause of death in the United States in the early 20th century, especially in the 1930s. At the time, there were no effective treatments for this deadly and highly contagious respiratory disease, and it was common practice to group patients in a separate, isolated community, much like a self-contained enclave. Molly Stark is one such enclave, nestled in a soothing, idyllic landscape in the remote corner of Stark County. The facility has its own power plant, laundry, and staff quarters. At its peak, nearly a hundred people lived, worked, and were treated at the facility known as the “waiting room for death.” The hospital even included a children’s ward with classrooms on the second floor.

The hospital was built in the Spanish Revival style with ornate verandas, covered balconies, and wide arches of molded concrete. As Todd Clark of the Stark County Park District commented, “Buildings like Molly Stark were built, yes, to be a tuberculosis sanitarium, but also to be a lasting monument to the county’s efforts to stamp out the disease.” But this monument has stood empty since 1995. In 2008, the county parks commission purchased the building for $1 and fenced it off with barbed wire to prevent people from entering the now unsafe structure, which is filled with asbestos that is difficult to clean up. Instead, a public park was created around it, allowing visitors to walk around and admire its facade. It remains a challenge for local officials and preservationists to raise the large sums of money needed to save the building from demolition or collapse.