1870s Beekman House Tours: Victorian Medical Practices
Victorian Medical Practices
When the “cure” could be deadlier than the cause!
Learn about doctors, medicine, andhealth concerns in late 1800s Jacksonville when Historic Jacksonville, Inc.opens the historic Beekman House on Saturday and Sunday, September 19 and 20,for Victorian Medical Practices tours. The 1870s house, located at 470 E.California, was home to Jacksonville’s wealthiest and most prominent pioneerfamily. But prominence and wealth could not buy health care that did notexist or insulate the family from the many epidemics that raged throughout thecountry.
In the late 1800s, Victorians were concerned about health above almostall other issues of the day. The discovery of germs led to major advances inhygiene and sanitation. But when the Beekman home was built in the early 1870s,most doctors were still “practitioners” lacking any formal medical education;hospitals were virtually non-existent; epidemics wiped out large numbers ofresidents; and cocaine, heroin, opium, alcohol, mercury, and strychnine werethe base of many medicines.
Guided 1-hour house tours discussing the local health careavailable in the late 1800s, sharing stories of Beekman health issues and“cures,” and pointing out sanitation measures the family adopted will beginevery 20 minutes from 12 noon through 3pm. Tours are $10; toursize is capped; reservations are encouraged.
