05/22/2026
THE BASE HOSPITAL
"One of the walks connecting the wards of Camp MacArthur, Waco, Texas."
This postcard photo is by F. Mann, and is part of The Texas Collection, Baylor University.
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THE BASE HOSPITAL
Camp MacArthur's Base Hospital was in Section H and was between Herring Avenue and Reuter Avenue, and between North 27th Street and North 32nd Street.
This section contained the Base Hospital that was close to Herring. There was also a Post Exchange that sold items the soldiers needed. From the sales of merchandise, they were able to construct a swimming pool on Alexander Avenue between North 28th and North 29th Street.
Nurse Loretta Johnson wrote an article for "The American Journal of Nursing" in 1918 that perfectly describes the layout and buildings of the Base Hospital:
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Camp MacArthur, Waco, Texas
By Loretta Johnson, R.N.
The Base Hospital is located about three miles northwest of Waco, Texas, a city of about forty-thousand inhabitants. On entering the grounds, rows of oblong buildings can be seen, rudely constructed of Pine lumber but substantial and comfortable. They are connected by board sidewalks with a four-foot railing on either side. These walks are very essential during the heavy rains. There are thirty-six wards in the hospital; there are four rows laid out somewhat in the order of streets, each row containing eight wards; there are four wards in different odd places about the Base, including the nurses’ and doctors’ wards. The rear row contains isolation and detention wards. In each row there is a space, about seventy-five feet wide and one hundred fifty feet long, between the wards. The soil in these spaces is very fertile and is used for war gardens, and also for a variety of flowers.
On the whole, the entire Base is very pleasing to the eye, as well as a comfortable and pleasant place for our sick and convalescent soldiers. Each ward is about one hundred fifty feet long and thirty feet wide. On entering one of these buildings, you see first a corridor five feet wide leading from the front entrance to the entrance of the ward proper. On either side of this corridor there are from five to six rooms, approximately ten feet square. One room is used as an office and contains two straight chairs, one easy rocker, a stove, two desks, one for the attending ward surgeon, and the other for the attending nurses of the ward, medicine locker, shelves for books, clinical records, and supplies. Another room is used by the wardmaster; another as a service room and, last, a kitchen, the most essential and necessary of all.
The ward room is about one hundred feet long and thirty feet wide. Each ward contains forty beds; these are so arranged as to make two rows on either side the length of the ward, leaving a wide aisle between rows. The wards are well-ventilated with ten windows on either side and four in the rear and front. There are three coal stoves in the ward, which give sufficient hear to make it very comfortable for the patients and attendants.
The nurses’ quarters are located at the entrance to the hospital. This building is like the others, low and rude, but comfortable. At the main entrance is a large screened porch with a number of easy chairs, a Victrola which was donated by the Red Cross Chapter of Waco, and a hundred food records donated by at Red Cross worker in Detroit, Michigan. It is needless to say how much we appreciate this. At almost any hour music is heard and the nurses are seen floating about, dancing some dreamy “back-home” waltz or one-step.
On entering the building one finds nice wide corridors leading in different directions with doors on either side, opening into spacious rooms which are occupied by the nurses. Each room has a large window, each is large enough to accommodate two nurses. The beds are very comfortable. There are nice large screened porches roomy enough to accommodate a bed for every nurse in the building. These quarters accommodate about one hundred and forty nurses.
There is a recreation room which has ten windows and two double doors; it contains a piano, a number of easy mission rockers, two mission tables, a stove, two or three stands, two rugs, and electric lights. Parties and dances are given for the officers and nurses. The rugs, chairs, tables, etc., are removed from the room, which leaves the floor space free and thus a very nice dance hall is provided when these parties take place. This is one form of recreation for the nurses and I think we are all very fond of it. Another very popular exercise here is horse-back riding, for the horses from the Artillery are at the officers’ and nurses’ disposal most of the time Walking, tennis playing and driving are also much in vogue.
The day nurses are on duty for eight hours and are given from four to five hours off duty during the day; these hours being so arranged that there will be one or two nurses on duty continuously. The night nurses have twelve-hour duty, from seven until seven. The day nurses then report for their daily routine of duty. There are three nurses, four or five ward boys, or corps men, and a ward surgeon as the attendants of the ward during the day. One nurse and ward boy are on duty at night in each ward. The night nurse seems to get the worst of the bargain, but a night nurse in the army needs little sympathy, the duty is so different and so much more pleasant than civilian hospital duty that it is really a pleasure. The night seems short and is usually very pleasant; it is rather cool, but we can appreciate that for it is so warm during the day. Our patients are all very grateful and patient; in fact, they are perfect gentlemen and real soldiers in regard to endurance of pain and suffering. America is very proud of her soldier boys and she proves it to the world by the care she gives them.
The nurses’ dining room is built on the cafeteria style. There are sixteen tables, each large enough to accommodate eight persons. There is also a large screened porch off the dining room, similar to the one at the entrance of the nurses quarters. The nurses are all very congenial, happy and healthy. The food is good and substantial, we eat like hungry soldiers. The nurses seem to enjoy army duty, but when they fail to get a letter from home, you will see a gloom overspread their faces. So friends of the “Nurses in Service,” have a heart and write to them today.
By Loretta Johnson, R.N.
From “The American Journal of Nursing,” 697-699, 1918. Online at www.jstor.com
