Sumter in Sumter County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Community Hospital
Community Hospital opened at this site in 1949. The 40-room brick facility was built for African American residents of Sumter and outlying areas who were underserved by white-owned Tuomey Hospital, which had a segregated wing for Black patients. At the time of Community Hospital's construction, this area was outside the Sumter city limits and known as Shot Pouch after the nearby creek. An addition was later made to the front of the building.
Land for the hospital was provided by Rev. Harry Bowman Brown. Brown was founder and president of the Sons and Daughters of Job, a local benevolent society that raised the $100,000 cost to build the hospital. The facility had a full-time nursing staff who worked with visiting doctors and surgeons. The hospital became Community Nursing Home in 1964. It later housed a residential care facility. The building caught fire in 2022. It was abandoned at that time.
Erected 2024 by South Carolina Department of Archives and History; sponsored by Sumter County Historical Commission. (Marker Number 43-58.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Charity & Public Work • Science & Medicine. A significant historical year for this entry is 1949.
Location. 33° 56.443′ N, 80°
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Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep 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 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: St. James Lutheran Church (approx. 1.2 miles away); Green Swamp Methodist Church (approx. 1.4 miles away); Sumter's Memorial To Its Brave Soldiers (approx. 1½ miles away); Military Post / Potter's Raid (approx. 1½ miles away); Henry L. Scarborough House (approx. 1.6 miles away); Sumter Institute (approx. 1.6 miles away); Elizabeth White House (approx. 1.6 miles away); The Tuomey Hospital (approx. 1.7 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Sumter.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 1, 2026. It was originally submitted on June 1, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 5 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on June 1, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
