Submitted by Al Shipley, City Historian and Rahway Library Research Consultant
In the fall of 1917, the United States Government appropriated two million dollars to build the first purely orthopedic/rehabilitation hospital where doctors could treat the many orthopedic injuries suffered by soldiers who would be returning from the battlefields of Europe. The hospital, designated United States General Hospital No. 3, would be built on a 200-acre site on the south side of New Dover Road in Colonia, not far from the Colonia Country Club. In 1917, because Colonia was still a very rural community, the City of Rahway was called upon to give support and to help with the logistics of the project.
Groundbreaking for the hospital took place in February, 1918. One of the first concerns was the urgent need for housing to accommodate the 2,000 plus workers and officials who would be arriving from places across the country. At a meeting of the Rahway Board of Trade, Captain L. M. Lang, the officer in charge of construction, addressed the board, stating, “You are going to have about 2,500 people thrust upon you in a very short time. Many will want houses and others will want boarding and rooming accommodations. What are you going to do with them?” Within two weeks after being confronted with the problem, over 400 rooms had been secured, most made by private residents who had available space in their homes. W. G. Peckham, proprietor of the Rahway Hotel (today, the Merchants and Drovers Museum) opened his building to the workers and also rented two neighboring houses to hire out rooms. The Rahway Trust Company, who saw this influx of people as an opportunity to make the city grow, made a proposal to build 100 new homes.
General Hospital No. 3 was the inspiration of Dr. Fred Albee, the physician who was responsible for persuading the War Department to fund the rehabilitation center. Albee, a Rahway surgeon and one of the founders of the Rahway Hospital in 1916, was a pioneer in the advancement of orthopedic surgery and the inventor of bone cutting and grafting tools. Over the course of his career, he earned a world-wide reputation as a leader in the field of physical, psychological, and occupational rehabilitation. As director of the hospital, he envisioned a facility that was more than a place for the treatment of wounds. His hospital was to be a school and a workplace as well, where patients, most of whom would be amputees, could learn skills they would need for a successful return to civilian life. He was also concerned with mental health issues and planned to work with soldiers as they struggled with the effects of “shell shock.”
By the time the first patients arrived, on July 5, 1918, they entered a complex that contained 110 structures and hospital wards with a capacity to house 2,000 beds. It was a self- contained campus with an administration building, separate wards for officers and enlisted men, five kitchens and mess halls, barracks, and nurses’ quarters. The site had its own fire department, central power plant, laundry, Post Exchange, and a Hostess House for receiving visiting relatives and friends. A 50 x 100-foot swimming pool was constructed for exercise and therapy. Several Rahway groups paid for the construction of three buildings and were responsible for their function and maintenance. The Knights of Columbus, with funds from the National Knights of Columbus, built an 80 x 20-foot building that served as a recreation and entertainment center. St. Mark’s Dramatic Club, a choir from Ebenezer AME, and members of the Elks were among the groups that provided entertainment at the Knights’ pavilion. The Rahway YMCA constructed a handsome and well equipped “Y” building. When basketball games were not being played, the court was used for exercise classes and weekend religious services. Movies were also shown regularly at the “Y.” The Rahway Chapter of the Red Cross expended funds to build the Red Cross House and the Rahway Branch of the Women’s Motor Corps served by driving guests from the railroad depot to the hospital grounds.
When World War I officially ended on November 11, 1918, there were still 2,000 patients at the hospital with the anticipation that more would be arriving. The War Department, however, had made plans to consolidate its military hospitals and ordered General Hospital No. 3 to close by the spring of 1919. Albee, who was convinced no other facility could provide such specialized care, traveled to Washington to seek an extension. His appeal was met with only partial success. The hospital was given a six-month extension, until October 15, after which the entire complex would be razed.
Although the hospital existed for only sixteen months, it administered to the needs of over 6,000 soldiers, and introduced new concepts and techniques in the treatment of America’s wounded warriors.
