Rolla in Phelps County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)

Missouri Trachoma Hospital

Rolla

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), September 15, 2019

1. Missouri Trachoma Hospital Marker

Inscription. "The Missouri Trachoma Hospital was one of two hospitals in the United States devoted for the treatment of this eye disease. The building was equipped with 70 beds and was completed in 1939 at a cost of $137,000. The grounds were donated by the Rolla Chamber of Commerce. State and Federal funds financed the project."

"The Missouri Highway Patrol took over the former Trachoma Hospital as its training academy in 1957. The troopers here are parked very near the site where John Webber built his cabin along the Springfield Road."

Route 66. Across 1930s Missouri from Missouri: A Guide to the "Show Me" State, compiled by the workers of the Writers Program of the Works Progress Administration in the State of Missouri, 1941

John F. Bradbury, Jr., Rolla The Old Town (St. Louis: G. Bradley Publishing, Inc., 2002), p. 69.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Government & Politics • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1939.

Location. 37° 56.796′ N, 91° 46.729′ W. Marker has been reported damaged. Marker is in Rolla, Missouri, in Phelps County. It is on Kingshighway

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(Business Interstate 44) 0.1 miles west of U.S. 63, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1006 Kingshighway, Rolla MO 65401, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Missouri. It is also in the American Ozarks,

in the Lewis & Clark Corridor,

and in the Corn Belt.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

the Louisiana Purchase,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location: The Webber Homestead (within shouting distance of this marker); The Mother Road in Central Missouri (approx. 0.2 miles away); Phelps County Veterans Memorial (approx. ¼ mile away); Edgar D. Lanning (approx. 0.3 miles away); Veterans Circle (approx. 0.3 miles away); Fort Wyman (approx. 0.3 miles away); Phelps County Courthouse (approx. 0.3 miles away); Central Elementary (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), September 15, 2019

2. Missouri Trachoma Hospital Marker

in Rolla.

Photographed by Hazel Griffin Pownall, April 18, 2018

3. Missouri Trachoma Hospital Marker

I was a patient in this hospital, as a child 8 or 9 years old. Probably 1950 or 51. I was from West Plains, MO.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 18, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 18, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 587 times since then and 46 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 18, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. 3. submitted on October 30, 2025, by Hazel Griffin Pownall of North Bend, Washington.