Posted by on Nov 17, 2013 in |

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PORT ROYAL MUSEUM OF MEDICINE

 

In January 2001, this historic doctor’s office building was donated to Historic Port Royal, Inc. by Mrs. Ned Stehl. In 2001, The Caroline County Board of Supervisors allocated $20,000 to help with the cost of restoration. In 2015, Historic Port Royal, Inc. opened the building as The “Port Royal Museum of Medicine”. On display are many historic medical implements donated by physician’s and their families, and several other collections of “local” Port Royal history.

History of the Doctor’s Office

Dr. John James Gravatt (1817-1886) erected the structure on Lot 17 as his medical office in the late 1840s, (Ralph Fall’s Hidden Village says “erected about 1850”).

Dr. Charels Urquhart Gravatt (1848-1922), son of Fr. John James Gravatt continued to use this structure for his office in 1909 and after.

Dr. Robert Green Holloway (1835-1919) and his son, Dr. Joseph Minor Holloway (1889-1975) practiced medicine in the Port Royal area for 50 years. It is thought that they practiced in the Dally House on King St. “Dr. Joe” encouraged Dr. Harris to come to Port Royal when he moved to Fredericksburg in 1924.

Dr. Rogers Harris rented the office building in 1934. He continued to rent it until he purchased it at public auction in 1977. He retired in 1980 and the building was unoccupied until it was dismantled and moved piece by piece to the Town Green in the Spring of 2001. (Mrs. Ned Stehl donated the building to Historic Port Royal, Inc.)