BLUE RIDGE: A HISTORY
“With your talents and industry, with science, and that steadfast honesty, which eternally pursues right, regardless of consequences, you may promise yourself everything but health, without which there is no happiness.”
-Thomas Jefferson
MOORE’S CREEK SANATORIUM
The Blue Ridge Property began its public service in 1902 when a group of physicians purchased the 106-acre Lyman Farm, located one mile southeast of Charlottesville. The group used the site to treat patients with mental disorders, alcoholism, and substance abuse disorders. Known as Moore’s Creek Sanatorium, the facility operated for 12 years before the company dissolved.
BLUE RIDGE SANATORIUM
In 1919, the Commonwealth of Virginia began exploring sites for a new sanatorium. At the time, tuberculosis killed thousands of Virginians annually and the state recognized the need for an additional sanatorium to support the growing number of patients.
Prompted by his personal history with tuberculosis, the University of Virginia's president Edwin Alderman wrote a letter to the governor urging the State to place the sanatorium in Charlottesville.
The city of Charlottesville offered additional support, including financial assistance and road improvements. With that support from the University and the City, the State of Virginia purchased the land and opened the Blue Ridge Sanatorium in 1920.
TREATING PATIENTS
Over the next 50 years, the Sanatorium treated thousands of tuberculosis patients, most of whom lived on the property for months at a time. Widespread use of tuberculosis antibiotics in the 1950s led to better, faster treatment and lessened the number of patients at the Sanatorium. To make use of the empty space, treatment programs at the property expanded in the 1970s to other diseases, such as an outpatient alcoholic treatment program.
BLUE RIDGE HOSPITAL
Ownership of the property was transferred to the University in 1978 and the facility changed the name to the Blue Ridge Hospital. It operated under that name for another 18 years until the facility closed in 1996. Since that time, the Blue Ridge Property has been in the custody of the University and the UVA Foundation.