Tarboro in Edgecombe County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Quigless Clinic-Hospital
Opened December 1946
| | This property is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places | |
Built and operated by Dr. Milton Douglas Quigless, Sr., an African-American physician and surgeon, this hospital offered complete services, an operating room, and a medicine dispensary for outpatients. When desegregation became a national law, Dr. Quigless was the first of his race to admit patients and perform surgery at the local county hospital in Tarboro. Until his death in 1997, he continued treating patients here at the Quigless Clinic.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1997.
Location. 35° 53.673′ N, 77° 31.966′ W. Marker is in Tarboro, North Carolina, in Edgecombe County. It is at the intersection of North Main Street (North Carolina Route 33) and St. Andrew Street, on the right when traveling north on North Main Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 99 N Main St, Tarboro NC 27886, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Coastal Plain. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, 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, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: George H. White (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Welcome to Princeville (about 600 feet away); Hurricane Floyd (approx. 0.2 miles away); George Washington Visit (approx. 0.2 miles away); Knights of Labor
this page online
Also see . . . National Register Nomination Form for Quigless Clinic. This form was prepared in May 2000 by Heather L. Barrett. A statement of historical significance begins on page 7:
In 1936 Dr. Milton Douglas Quigless (1904-1997), a graduate of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, arrived in Tarboro, North Carolina in Edgecombe County to find that the community had a black pharmacist, but the only black doctor had died four or five years earlier. According to Dr. Quigless, black people were "dying like flies" out in the country. Denied practicing privileges at Edgecombe Memorial Hospital for almost ten years, Dr. Quigless treated people in their homes throughout the coimtryside. When he was not treating people in their homes, an abandoned fish market on the comer of Main and Water streets (now St. Andrews Street) in Tarboro served as his office.(Submitted on December 28, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.)
After years of struggle trying to secure a loan to open his own clinic and annually being denied hospital privileges. Peoples Bank in the nearby town of Rocky Mount loaned him $30,000 to establish a clinic. In 1946, the old fishmarket was torn down and the two-story brick Quigless Clinic was built on the site. On December 3, 1946, the clinic opened its doors and in its first week the twenty-five bed facility was filled with patients. Dr. Quigless became well known for his medical skills, especially in the areas of dermatology, arthritis, weight control, asthma, and allergies.
The Quigless Clinic meets Criteria A and B for significance in the areas of Social History, Medicine, and Ethnic Heritage/black. Dr. Milton Quigless, who is most closely associated with the building at 99 Main Street, established Quigless Clinic as the first fully equipped African American owned and operated medical facility in Edgecombe County. The property meets Criteria Consideration G because it achieved significance within the last fifty years. The period of significance begins in 1946, the year the building was completed and opened for business, and concludes in 1975, the year Dr. Quigless discontinued full service inpatient treatment at the clinic. Dr. Quigless continued to treat out-patients at the clinic until shortly before his death in 1997.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 21, 2026. It was originally submitted on December 28, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 99 times since then and 67 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 28, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
