Wilcox County residents made use of Old Carter Hospital in Repton

Old Carter Hospital in Repton

I was looking through some old editions of The Wilcox Progressive Era the other day and ran across a short news item that immediately caught my eye. In the Aug. 13, 1942 edition of the newspaper, it was reported that “Mr. M.F. Suttles, who underwent an operation at Carter Hospital, Repton, the past week is very much improved and expects to be at his post of duty in Camden soon.”

Many in the reading audience likely know that Repton is a small town in Conecuh County, nestled along U.S. Highway 84 between Monroeville and Evergreen. According to the 1940 census, around the time of Mr. Suttles’ visit to Carter Hospital, the town had a population of 365. Today, the town has a population of around 235.

While many of you have probably heard of Repton, I’m willing to bet that very few readers have heard of the Old Carter Hospital, which still stands today on Burnt Corn Street in Repton. This hospital, which closed in the 1950s, was located inside of an old, private residence that was built in the 1800s. In July 1935, Dr. William R. Carter turned the old house into a hospital.

It’s been said that at one time, the Carter Hospital was the only hospital between Selma and Century, Fla. and that “Doc” Carter was the only Board-Certified Surgeon in the area for decades. In the 1950s, when modern hospitals opened in Monroeville and Evergreen, Carter decided to close his hospital. He literally walked out and locked the door behind him, and to this day the hospital remains a medical time capsule, remaining unchanged from the day Carter shut the doors.

As the years went by, the old hospital garnered the reputation of being a haunted house, and in October 2010 the Carter family gave reporters from The Evergreen Courant (where I worked at the time) and The Monroe Journal permission to spend the night in the old hospital with an eye towards doing a little “ghost hunting.” We found the building to be extremely spooky. The same x-rays were hanging up from the day that Dr. Carter walked out, and the building was filled with vintage medical equipment that looked especially eerie in the darkness. For the record, we saw no ghosts that night.

Another interesting story about the old hospital is that it is where Harper Lee, the famous author of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” received her high school diploma. The story goes that Lee missed her high school graduation ceremony because she was in the Carter hospital having her appendix removed. While she remained in the hospital, her diploma was delivered to Dr. Carter, who in turn formally presented it to his young patient as she rested in her hospital bed.

Today, the building is open for tours from time to time to benefit the Repton Restoration Society. If you ever get the opportunity to take one of these tours, it’s well worth the trip to Repton for a first-hand look at this old hospital. Take my word for it, you won’t be disappointed.