Monday, June 8, 2009

"Roots" - Hutchinson, Kansas

We arrived in Hutchinson around 2:00pm and set up at the Kansas State Fairgrounds. I (Rick) was born in Hutchinson, some 50+ years ago, when dad was stationed here while in the USAF. I had not been back to Hutchinson since my birth. I wanted to find the hospital where I was born and the house where we lived.

I "Googled" the name of the hospital, Saint Elizabeth's Mer
cy Hospital, and found a reference to it being closed some years ago. Another reference stated the building still existed and approximately where it was located. We found the old hospital (click on the photo to enlarge). The building is for sale. It most recently was an apartment building and office building.
I then called Mom and asked if she remembered where we lived. She remembered "9th Street", but no address. I went back through some old photos that Y had scanned, and found the two below. The one with Dad and me, I could barely make out the house numbers by enlarging the photo. Y and I jumped in the Jeep, put in the address, 1212 East 9th Street, into the GPS and off we went.When we arrived, the following pictures are what we found. It's the same house! Notice the windows in each of the photos. In the present picture, you can see the original concrete porch under the existing deck. In the second new photo look at the roof line and position of the vents. Click on the photos to enlarge.