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After relocating from Abbeville to Covington, Dr. F.F. Young built a sanitarium here, and over the years it moved from one location to another. The Southern Hotel was used for a time, as was "Glen Cottage" and a couple of new buildings. Fire destroyed two of his facilities.
He came to Covington in 1912 and settled in at the Southern Hotel.
.
Takes Over New Southern for a Sanitarium
Text from the Above News Article
The drug and liquor habit has caused more suffering in the world than all the other evils combined, bringing suffering to the innocent friends, as well as wrecking the mind and body of him addicted to the habit. Any means by which such a person may be brought back to a state of usefulness and health should be heralded as a boon to humanity.
Dr. F. F. Young, of the Fenwick Sanitarium, of Abbeville, La., who has gained such a reputation for the excellent work he has done In this direction, has moved to Covington, where he has secured the handsome New Southern Hotel, fitting it up in excellent style for a sanitarium, to be known as "The New Fenwick," a high grade sanitarium and hotel resort.
Dr. Young has selected Covington for its remarkable
healthfulness, its nearness to New Orleans, the metropolis of the South
and because it is easily accessible from all parts of the country.
The establishment of such a sanitarium In Covington will no doubt bring
a large number of people to The New Fenwick, for aside from the
reputation Dr. Young has established by his successful treatment of the
drug and liquor habit, the invigorating effect of our ozone-laden air cannot fail to give vital force and strength to the patients and win friends for both the Doctor and Covington.
We understand that Dr. Young was highly complimented by Dr. Oscar Dowling, president of the State Board of Health, for the excellent sanitary condition of his resort In Abbeville. When a large institution of this kind can win praise from such an exacting sanitarian as Dr. Dowling, it shows that Dr. Young possesses not only medical skill, but the executive ability to make his sanitarium a comfortable home, with those attributes that make home attractive.
Dr. Young states that his sanitarium, involves the expenditure of a large amount of money yearly and that his supplies are purchased in the local market, which means that quite a sum will be put in circulation in Covington as a result of the establishment of The New Fenwick here.
St. Tammany Farmer June 15,1912
Southern Hotel
While he didn’t occupy the hotel building for
long, wishing instead to build his own more medically-inclined facility, his
connection to the building is one of considerable historical interest.
The word “sanitarium” may not mean today what it meant back
then. In the early 1900’s, it was a
place for people with illnesses and drug addictions who could, with proper care
and rest, be brought back to health. Covington was home to several
“sanitariums” and cottages designed for health and recuperation.
“The New Fenwick
Sanitarium,” billed as one of the finest institutions in the South, was moved to
Covington for several reasons. The Covington/Abita Springs area already had an established reputation for health-recuperating qualities, due to the air and water. The "Ozone Belt" was known world-wide for its resistance to recent health epidemics.
Dr.
F. F. Young
According to a 1910 booklet about Covington, THE GLEN COTTAGE was one of the most popular and successful select private resorts at Covington. The house was a new building with all of the modern improvements. Every room opened onto broad galleries. Glen Cottage was noted for its home comforts, French cookery and its out door recreations which included basketball, a tennis court, etc. The house was open from March to November, and was situated on the edge of Covington in one of the most picturesque of locations.
An ad from the Times Picayune 1919
In 1925 the Fenwick Sanitarium then in use burned to the ground. Labelled "the most disastrous fire Covington has had for some time," an article in the Farmer stated that the fire occurred just before noon on Saturday, April 11. It was discovered while all the residents had gathered for dinner and "by the time the alarm was given it had gained such headway that it could not be subdued."
Only part of the furniture on the ground floor was saved. "The Fenwick Sanitarium was considered to be one of the best in the South. It is not known just what arrangements will be made for its reconstruction or its new quarters. The patients are at this time being cared for at various quarters, as could best be arranged," according to the article.
The Historical Account
The history of Dr. Young’s efforts to build sanitariums spanned decades, according
to Kenneth A. Dupuy with the Vermillion (Parish) Historical Society. Dr.
Francis Fenwick Young established his first renowned Fenwick Sanitarium first
in Hot Springs, Ark., in December of 1899, followed by moving the facility to
Abbeville, La.
Dupuy goes on to recount that Dr. Young’s “private office and operating room housed ‘the latest improved instruments and appliances,’ for the treatment of the diseases of the ear, nose and throat, electro-therapeutic appliances, and ‘splendid equipment for treating lung diseases by the inhalation of certain drugs in the form of pleasant soothing vapors." His sanitarium built in Abbeville continued his success in treating of the above illnesses.
On February 6, 1906, however, a fire broke out in the
sanitarium during a "blizzard and sleet storm." The building was
destroyed.
Dupuy stated that in February of 1908, Dr. Young was
organizing a corporation with a capital of $500,000 for the operation of
sanitariums in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, and Los Angeles. Again, the
treatment was for "drug and liquor addictions." Later in 1908,
however, Young met with financial
reversals, and on November 14, 1908, the charter of the Fenwick Sanitarium,
Ltd., was filed. Dr. Young no longer
owned the sanitarium he built.
The
Move To Covington
In mid-1912, Dr. F.
F. Young Sr. and family moved to Covington to continue providing treatment for
drug and alcohol addictions.
After securing a new location for his sanitarium in
Covington, Dr. Young moved from the Southern Hotel and continued to offer his
services to a wide variety of visitors.
Having formerly located in existing health resort buildings, a new building was built in 1926 by Dr. Young
specifically for use as a sanitarium. It was located on South New Hampshire
St. in Covington. It was torn down in January of 2023.
Dupuy ended his historical account of the Fenwick
Sanitariums by noting that Dr. F. F. Young, Sr. died on September 26, 1945, at
the age of 82. “One of his grandsons,
Federal Judge Richard J. Putnam, told how his grandfather had loaned him $300
for tuition for his last semester in law school. When Judge Putnam repaid the
loan, Dr. Young implied that he had not expected to see the money again. The
judge said that his grandfather was like that: too generous with his friends
and relatives.
Dr. Maylie was associated with the Southern Hotel and Fenwick Sanitarium
In 1974, the New Hampshire Street building was converted to apartments.
January 3, 1974 Advertisement
The building sustained some damage from Hurricane Ida in 2021.
The building was demolished the first week of 2023.
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