Battle Creek Sanitarium

For the facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, see Colorado Springs sanatoria. For the building housing the Battle Creek Sanitarium from 1942 onward, see Phelps Sanitarium.

Battle Creek Sanitarium
Original Battle Creek Sanitarium main building destroyed by fire in 1902
Rebuilt Battle Creek Sanitarium and Hospital, dedicated in 1903
Battle Creek Sanitarium is located in Michigan
Battle Creek Sanitarium
Location within the state of Michigan
Battle Creek Sanitarium is located in the United States
Battle Creek Sanitarium
Battle Creek Sanitarium (the United States)
Location74 N. Washington St.
Battle Creek, Michigan
Coordinates42°19′37″N 85°11′16″W / 42.32694°N 85.18778°W / 42.32694; -85.18778
Built1903
ArchitectFrank Mills Andrews, M.J. Morehouse
Architectural styleRenaissance
NRHP reference No.74000980[1] (original)
11001060 (increase)
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 30, 1974
Boundary increaseJanuary 27, 2012
Designated MSHSSeptember 7, 1989[2]
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The origin of the Battle Creek Sanitarium
Battle Creek Sanitarium fire on February 18, 1902
Postcard with an aerial view of sanitarium, c. 1928
Postcard with a view of sanitarium with the tower addition, c. 1930

The Battle Creek Sanitarium was a world-renowned health resort in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States.[3] It started in 1866 on health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and from 1876 to 1943 was managed by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg.[4]

The "San," as it was called, flourished under Dr. Kellogg's direction and became one of the "premier wellness destinations" in the United States.[4] After a devastating fire in 1902[5] the Sanitarium was not only rebuilt, but also enlarged. At its zenith, the sprawling health and wellness complex of more than 30 buildings situated on 30 acres accommodated near thirteen hundred guests. It housed a hospital with research facilities and a nursing school, as well as the Sanitarium Food Company, among others. Following the disfellowshipping of Dr. Kellogg in 1907, the physician stated that he and his employees were "independents" who "did not belong to any church"[6] and that the Sanitarium promoted his theory of "biologic living" based on Adventist principles.[7] In 1928, a distinct 14-story addition to the main building, the "Towers," was constructed.[8][9]

The Great Depression forced the institution to constrict and sell assets to serve its debt. In 1942, the signature main building was purchased by the U.S. Army and converted into the Percy Jones Army Hospital, and the sanatorium moved to the former Phelps Sanitarium building. The hospital was disbanded in the 1950s and the facility was managed by the General Services Administration. In 2003, it was re-dedicated as the Hart–Dole–Inouye Federal Center.

In 1957, the floundering wellness institution was taken over by the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which operated it under a different name until 1993, when it was sold.[9]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. ^ State of Michigan (2009). "Battle Creek Sanitarium". Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  3. ^ Howard Markel. How Dr. Kellogg’s world-renowned health spa made him a wellness titan, PBS, Aug 18, 2017
  4. ^ a b Wilson 2014, p. xi.
  5. ^ Battle Creek Sanitarium Goes Up in Ashes Archived October 22, 2021, at the Wayback Machine, The Columbus Enquirer-Sun, Columbus, GA, 19 February 1902
  6. ^ Wilson 2014, p. 112.
  7. ^ Wilson 2014, p. xiv.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference nom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ a b Land, Gary. Historical dictionary of Seventh-Day Adventists. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2005, p. 37