306 North Confederate Avenue
Fennell Infirmary of Rock Hill, SC
Rock Hill has been fortunate to have been served by outstanding physicians. One of these was Dr. William Wallace Fennell, a native of the Richburg area of Chester County who settled in Rock Hill in 1897. Dr. Fennell was influence by his grandfather, Dr. John Bell Fennell, and his father, whose medical education was cut short by the Civil War. Wallace, born in 1869, was educated in local schools and worked his way through a business degree at the University of Kentucky, graduating in 1887. He returned to Chester County and worked for five years at the Fishing Creek Manufacturing Company in Lando, Chester County, SC. Deciding to enter the medical profession, he conferred with Dr. David Lyle in Chester County and received some basic education in anatomy from him. He also fell in love with Lyle’s daughter, Mary Rose Lyle, who was ten years his junior.
Fennell received his medical degree from the South Carolina Medical College (now MUSC) in 1895 and did post graduate work in 1899 New York City under Dr. Walker Gill Wylie at the Belleview Hospital. Wylie, also a native of Chester County and a cousin of Mary Rose Lyle, was so impressed with Fennell’s skills as a surgeon that he urged him to stay in New York. However, he wanted to return home, and practiced a year in Edgemoor before moving to Rock Hill in 1897. He and Mary Rose Lyle were married in 1899. He worked at first with Dr. William Frances Strait, who had a practice in his home on Johnston Street.
The Fennells lived in several locations in Rock Hill. Dr. Fennell boarded with Mrs. S. Frew on Hampton Street, and Mary Rose joined him there after their marriage. Within a year, they purchased the former Episcopal Parsonage at the corner of Hampton Street and Elm Avenue, (location is maybe Johnston Street and Elm Avenue), where their first child, Althea was born. Soon, Dr. Fennell converted portions of the house into a hospital or clinic. Rock Hill had no public hospital until 1940, and many physicians operated hospitals in their homes or rented houses. Dr. Fennell employed nurses and began seeing patients of all kinds, often performing surgeries in the clinic. His skill as a surgeon became widely known. In 1904 and 1905, Fennell studied at the University of Heidleburg Medical School in Germany to learn the latest surgical techniques in Europe.
In 1903, several local doctors joined together to develop a new hospital, with Capt. William Lyle Roddey helping to raise the funds. Dr. Fennell joined this group, and worked in the new facility for a few years. The new Rock Hill Hospital was located on Clay Street (now Charlotte Avenue) near the Overhead Bridge. About the same time, the Fennells moved to the Oakland Avenue area to be nearer the new hospital and the number of friends and relatives who had moved to the new Oakland development over the past few years. Their new home was the former home of Mr. and Mrs. William Joseph Roddey. It had been built in 1896 at the corner of Oakland and Wilson in the high Queen Anne Style. Within ten years, the Roddeys decided they wanted a newer, larger home, but did not want to leave the enclave of relatives and friends on Oakland Avenue. The solution was to move the home and build a new one in its place. The Roddeys were relatives and close friends with the Fennells, and in 1906 the adjacent lot was sold to the Fennells and the home moved from 148 Oakland Avenue to its present location at 128 Oakland Avenue. When the Fennells bought the home, it was altered to reflect the Classical Revival style, which had replaced the Queen Anne style in popularity. During the construction, the Fennells lived for a few months in the London family home at the corner of Oakland Avenue and Chatham Street. The large new home on Oakland afforded room for the growing family and for Dr. Fennell’s office and examining room.
Within a few years, Dr. Fennell decided that he wished to develop his own hospital where he could have greater control over the surgical procedures and could provide a training school for nurses. A bequest from the will of Mary Rose’s uncle John Lyle allowed the couple to purchase a large parcel on North Confederate Avenue. Here was established the Fennell Infirmary in 1909, the first fully functioning hospital in Rock Hill. The large wood structure had 50 patient beds, a ward for African American patients, an operating suite, a dining room, kitchen, and laundry. The Infirmary was two stories facing Confederate Avenue and because of the sloping lot, stood three stories in the rear. The site had the advantage of being close to the railroad and next to Confederate Park. To the rear was a large area which housed a hot house, rose garden, and pastures for pet deer and family horses. The family then built a larger home adjacent to the Infirmary in 1910 and sold the Oakland Avenue home to Dr. W. C. Patrick, a Rock Hill dentist. The new house was large enough to house the family and the nurses training with the Infirmary.
Dr. David Lyle, Jr., Mary Rose’s brother worked with Fennell to establish a nurses’ training facility. Dr. Fennell recruited and trained nurses to assist in the operating room. Other physicians worked at the Infirmary, including Dr. W. R. Blackmon and Dr. Robert Sumner. The Fennell Infirmary quickly gained a reputation as one of the foremost centers for surgery in the Carolinas. It was the most fully equipped and staffed hospital in the area including York, Chester, Lancaster, and Kershaw counties. Patients came from all over the Piedmont of the Carolinas. Dr. Fennell was known for innovative and creative surgery techniques, and often did follow-up procedures when other surgeons had failed. Dr. Fennell developed a relationship with the rail lines serving Rock Hill. He was surgeon for both the Southern and Seaboard Airline Railroads, and relied on the proximity of the railroad to deliver patients. The Southern even established a “Fennell Infirmary Crossing” nearby where the line crossed Confederate Avenue. He traveled on the railroad to perform surgeries when patients could not reach the hospital, the rail lines being cleared to allow his car to pass.
Dr. Fennell became a charter member of the American College of Surgeons and a member of the Medical Board of South Carolina. He received a number of accolades from his fellow surgeons, with a national reputation. In 1924, Dr. Fennell suffered a stroke and had to end his practice. The Fennell Infirmary was leased to Dr. W. B. Ward and was operated for several years. In 1934, the Roman Catholic Church opened the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Rock Hill and began outreach in the area. Local physicians met with the Bishop of Charleston concerning establishing a hospital in the area. As a result, the Fennell Infirmary was sold to the Sisters of Saint Frances in 1925, and was reopened as St Philips Hospital. St. Philips functioned as the principal hospital in Rock Hill until York County Hospital was opened in 1940 on Ebenezer Road. [Henrietta Fennell Lesesne and Paul Gettys]
The Herald reported on Jan. 2, 1926 that Dr. W.B. Ward has leased the Fennel Infirmary.
tagged: Belleview Hospital, David Lyle, Dr. William Wallace Fennell, Episcopal Parsonage, Fennell Infirmary, Fishing Creek Manufacturing Company, Fred Long, Hamilton Carhartt, Heidleburg Medical School, Henrietta F. Lesesne, John Bell Fennell, Medical Board of South Carolina, Robert Sumner, Roman Catholic Church, St. Philips Hospital, St. Philllips Hospital, W. B. Ward, W. C. Patrick, W. R. Blackmon, W.W. Fennell, W.W. Fennell Jr, Walker Gill Wylie, Ward Clinic, William Joseph Roddey
Current Address: 306 North Confederate Avenue
Previous Address: 306 Academy
Winthrop University Archives
Caroliniana Library
York County Library
The Historic Center of York County
SC Department of Archives and History
Rock Hill Historic Cemetary Records
Textile History Spring Industries
Textile History M. Lowenstein and Sons
Rock Hill Historic Survey Cards
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