The Dow Magnesium Hospital (No Longer Standing)
In 1939, as World War II intensified, the Dow Texas Division began operations in Freeport to produce magnesium for the war effort. Recognizing the need to care for its growing workforce, Dow quickly established a medical program and made plans to build a nearby hospital with government support. The Dow Magnesium Hospital officially opened its doors in 1942. Designed by renowned architect Alden B. Dow, the facility featured 42 beds, an operating room, an emergency room, a maternity ward, and a dining room for staff.That same year, the first industrial physician, Dr. R.C. Miller, was hired. He was later joined by Dr. Ralph Gray in 1945 and Dr. J. Alan Stewart, forming a trio of physicians who all opened practices in Lake Jackson shortly thereafter.Dow Chemical purchased the hospital from the government and continued to operate it for the next 15 years. In 1955, due to continued industrial growth and rising employment, the hospital doubled its floor space and increased its capacity to 78 beds by adding a new private wing. In 1961, Dow donated the hospital to the local community, and it was renamed the Community Hospital.
Community Hospital of Brazosport (No Longer Standing)
With Dow’s donation of the hospital to the newly formed Community Hospital Corporation, a non-profit organization established to manage hospital operations, the facility transitioned from serving primarily plant employees to serving the broader community. Until that time, the only other hospital available to the public was the Freeport Hospital, which had been renamed Brazosport Memorial Hospital in 1954.In 1966, a new four-story hospital building was constructed for $2.2 million (about 20 million today). The 60,000-square-foot facility increased the region’s total bed capacity to 127. Upon its completion in November 1966, the two hospitals, the Community Hospital and Brazosport Memorial, officially consolidated into a single institution known as the Community Hospital of Brazosport. Each floor of the new hospital served a specific function. The fourth floor was the medical unit, housing the most patients and including the intensive care unit. The third floor contained surgical facilities with three major operating rooms, x-ray services, and post-operative recovery beds. The second floor was dedicated to obstetric, gynecological, and neonatal care, featuring two delivery rooms, five labor beds, 22 postpartum beds, a nursery, and a sleeping room for doctors. The first floor housed administrative offices, the main lobby, a gift shop, and the cafeteria.Although upgrades were made in 1971 and 1979, structural and design deficiencies prevented the building from meeting updated codes. Rather than renovate, hospital officials chose to relocate the facility to Lake Jackson. Dow contributed $6 million and donated 183 acres of land, 25 acres were used for the hospital, while the remaining 158 acres were sold to a developer for $4 million.Today, the hospital operates as St. Luke’s Health–Brazosport Hospital. (100 Medical Dr, Lake Jackson, TX 77566)
Alden Dow Office Museum
Address: 101 S. Parking Place, Lake Jackson, TX 77566The first three doctors in Lake Jackson, Dr. Robert C. Miller, Dr. Ralph Gray, and Dr. Henry King May, played a significant role in establishing local healthcare in the growing company town. Dr. Miller, originally from Fostoria, Ohio, arrived in 1942 through a federal wartime program that placed physicians in essential industries. Originally working as an industrial physician at the Dow magnesium plant, he soon recognized the newly built town of Lake Jackson's need for medical care. In October 1943, he opened Lake Jackson’s first private medical practice in this wooden Dow building on South Parking Place, with his wife Susy serving as his nurse.He was joined in 1945 by Dr. Ralph Gray, a fellow graduate of Western Reserve University and a trained surgeon who initially worked alongside Miller at Dow. In 1946, Dr. Henry King May, a Navy veteran and Texas native, became the town’s third doctor.Unfortunately the actual room is no longer in existence as the current building is only a small remaining portion of the original. Despite it being a small office, Miller shared it with Dr. Gray and Dr. May. The three doctors rotated office hours until 1951 when Miller and the others moved to the newly built Lake Jackson Clinic at 101 Parking Way.
Lake Jackson Clinic
Address: 101 Parking Way, Lake Jackson, TX 77566The Lake Jackson Clinic was designed by Alden B. Dow in 1946 and opened a few years later in 1951. It was then that Dr. Miller, Dr. Gray and for a short time Dr. May moved their practices to the new clinic.As general practitioners in the 1950s, all three doctors were often the primary healthcare providers for families, including delivering babies. Dr. Gray had to give up obstetrics, however, due to a back injury he sustained during an automobile accident on the way to the birth of one of his own daughters. Dr. Gray was also trained as a surgeon and for years was the only surgeon practicing in the Brazosport area. Fortunately the original building is still standing today and is now the Brazosport Dental office.
Doctor’s Office - 1953
Address: 229 Parking Way, Lake Jackson, TX 77566This office building was built about 1953 and was first occupied by Dr. James A. Stewart, Dr. Oscar L. Johnson, and Dr. Henry K. May. Dr. May had previously shared an office with Lake Jackson’s first doctors, Dr. Miller and Dr. Gray down the same street at 101 Parking Way.James Alan Stewart earned a medical degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1943. After serving in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, he began practicing medicine at the Dow Magnesium Hospital in 1947, later moving his practice to Lake Jackson in 1953, where he continued until retiring in 1987.Before coming to Lake Jackson, Dr. Oscar Johnson completed his residency in pediatrics at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He moved to Lake Jackson in 1953, and for the first few months his car was his office, so he only made house calls. Dr. Johnson was Lake Jackson’s first pediatrician. His first office was in this building.
S. Parking Place Office
Address: 120 S. Parking Place, Lake Jackson, Tx 77566Dr. Johnson would later share an office at 120 S. Parking Place, with fellow pediatricians Dr. T. Edwin Cook in 1957 and Dr. Werner Stork also joined the practice in 1962. Eventually, he and the other doctors would relocate to a new complex of offices known as Doctors Park at 201 That Way St. Johnson believed that in order to treat a patient effectively you needed to know about their lives, their habits, their families and their interests. Many would consider this today as a holistic approach to patient care.Fun Fact: In 1984, the Lake Jackson Historical Association would open its first museum in this same complex of offices at 122 S. Parking Place.
Doctor’s Park
Construction of a new complex of doctor’s offices was completed in 1967. Pediatricians, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Cook and Dr. Stork relocated their practices to this complex from their previous location on S. Parking Place. Doctor’s Park is made up of several “blocks of offices”. Eventually the block of offices with the pediatricians came to be called the Children’s Clinic.As chairman of the public health committee for the Brazoria County Medical Society, Johnson spearheaded a county-wide effort to immunize residents against polio in 1962 with the Sabin Oral Vaccine. The campaign was so successful that more people were immunized than lived in the county.October 15, 1983, was declared as Oscar Johnson Day, and several receptions were held in his honor to show appreciation for his numerous contributions to the area in the field of medicine and community service.
Dr. Leo Windecker’s Office (No Longer Standing)
At this stop, you’ll encounter not just the story of a local dentist, but a global innovator who changed the course of aviation history, Dr. Leo Windecker.Although Dr. Windecker was not the first dentist in Lake Jackson, his impact on the community, and the world, reached far beyond dental health. In the early 1950s, while still practicing dentistry, he became fascinated with flight and materials science. He began experimenting with fiberglass composites, lightweight, strong materials that had never been used to build an airplane.With support from the Texas Division of the Dow Chemical Company, Dr. Windecker pursued this groundbreaking work full-time. His efforts led to the creation of the Windecker Eagle, the first all-composite airplane to receive certification from the Federal Aviation Administration in 1969, a major milestone in aviation. Today, composites are standard in modern aircraft design, thanks in part to the innovations sparked by Dr. Windecker.
