The Good Samaritan Hospital was built on the property that had once housed the East End Baptist Church. Located in the area that was predominately populated by African Americans, the Good Samaritan Hospital allowed for the members of the surrounding community to have easier access to health care. Construction on the Good Samaritan Hospital was started in the late 1940s and was completed in 1948. Ironically, some of the area was originally owned by slave owner Samuel Maverick Jr. who was part of the racialized leadership in San Antonio and a supporter of white supremacy. Unlike his later liberal relatives, Samuel Maverick was a signer of the Texas Constitution of 1836 which enshrined slavery. In fact, Samuel Maverick owned seven slaves just before coming to Texas in 1837. According to The Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) at The University of Texas at San Antonio, the area was conveyed to Maverick in 1879.
During the days of Jim Crow segregation, this site served as a hospital for Blacks in San Antonio. The major San Antonio hospitals served only whites or had a “Colored Clinic” physically separated from the rest of the hospital. The original structure was built as Corinth Baptist Church in 1915. Eventually, a second story was added by well-known Black contractor W. C. White. In 1948, with the help of Corinth Baptist Church and others, the structure was converted into a hospital for Black people. The hospital was originally proposed by two white women who were hospital workers. Rachel Starr was a registered nurse and Genevieve Troutman a hospital technician. According to a 1948 San Antonio Light newspaper article, “’Mrs. Starr said that for years she felt a deep sympathy for the city’s Negroes (Blacks) in their need of a hospital. Negro surgeons never have been allowed to operate in white hospitals.”
Members of the original TIRZ Board fought for years to save the structure that was essentially falling down. The structure was awarded almost one million dollars for renovation in collaboration with St. Philips College and the Alamo Community College District which would provide veterans outreach services. In 2015, as Vice Chair Mario Salas of the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 11 board of directors, the city board voted for restoration of the Eastside landmark which held important historical meaning. According to an article by Adolfo Pesquera of the Virtual Builders Exchange, “Back when this TIRZ was first formed, one of things we really wanted to do was that Good Samaritan Hospital. This was originally an African-American hospital when the hospitals in San Antonio were segregated.”
After segregation official ended the building was used as a women’s dormitory for St. Philips College and dances were often held there in later years. In 1991, social activist Melody R. Jones operated a nonprofit agency in the building known as Reaching the Youth of America, which served distressed teens on the East Side. Jones initiated the program in 1987 and during her time as director, she earned several awards. Unable to maintain control of the property Jones moved to another location and in December of 2011, the San Antonio City Council approved a collaboration with the Alamo Community College District and St. Philip’s College to renovate the former hospital into a veteran’s outreach center. The Good Samaritan Veteran’s Outreach and Transition Center provides personalized services to all active duty, retired, veteran’s, their families, and the community in the San Antonio Area. There are plenty of other sites to save or make a part of history with a historical plaque.
