FLOW mEMORIAL hOSPITAL
HISTORY OF FLOW
Flow Memorial Hospital est. 9-1-1950 to 9-30-1988
When mentioning Flow Hospital in Denton, you will get one of two responses: 'Oh yes (fill in the blank) was born there' or 'is that the haunted hospital'? It is, in one way or another, a part of the fabric of Denton.
The story of Flow Memorial Hospital starts after the Civil War and covers territory from Missouri to the Klondike to Denton County. Its cast of characters are all heavy hitters in the history of Denton County.
James Flow and his wife, Sally Inmon Flow, came to Pilot Point, Texas from Christian County, Missouri, in 1866. They had three children: Virgil, born 1866, Ada Gertrude, born 1867 and Homer, born 1870. His in-laws, the Inmons, also made the trip. James had a sister, Josie, who married James K. Russell. One of her sons was H. M. Russell, who founded Russell’s Department store. James Flow was a blacksmith who had been a miner in the Klondike gold fields. He set up his business in a building next to Russell’s Department store.
All three of the Flow children had vision problems. Virgil, was very tall and ungainly, and not in good health. He was listed as a musician in the 1900 Denton County census and was the manager of the Wright Opera House. Virgil played the piano and Ada and Homer accompanied on violins. Virgil became blind when he was about 35. Ada Gertrude was also unhealthy and became blind as a young woman. Homer worked with his father as a blacksmith until he also became blind. Their mother and grandmother were both partially blind. In their later life, Homer and Ada hired Mrs. W. E. Ford to care for them.
Sally Inmon had a younger sister, Martha Inmon, who married Joseph A. Carroll after his first wife died. The couple had one daughter that died in childhood. When Joseph A. Carroll died in 1891, his estate was divided between the children of his first wife and Martha. Martha left her estate to her sister Sally Flow at her death.
James Flow died in 1916 and Sally died in 1920. They left a fairly substantial estate consisting of land and the blacksmith business. Virgil died young in 1921. Ada Gertrude never married. She and Homer lived together in a house on South Elm Street. Homer broke his hip in 1937 and was unable to walk. Ada died in 1943 and that left Homer Flow the sole heir to his parents’ estate. Near the end of his life he and his caregiver discussed the possibility that the State would come in and take all the estate unless he did something useful with the money and land left to him. It was Mrs. Ford who suggested that some type of hospital be built for the citizens of Denton.
Homer Flow deeded 1,900 acres of land and his home to the city and county to be sold as a start toward the hospital. When he wrote his will in 1947, he left over $10,000.00 to various health agencies in the county and in Dallas. His will stipulated that the city and county were to participate in the purchase of land, and build a facility that would service citizens who could not afford health care. The city and county purchased a 13 acre plot from the Scripture family who moved their home further down the street so the hospital could be built.
The completed Flow Memorial Hospital (named for Homer Flow) opened for business September 1, 1950 and served the community until September 30 1988 when it closed.
When the hospital closed in 1988 the Director of Volunteers donated all the yearbooks they had compiled from 1963 forward to the Denton County Historical Museum, Inc. so that the history of Flow Memorial Hospital would not be forgotten.
The first Grants by Flow Foundation were considerably modest compared to the current annual Grant Disbursements. The first year Flow Grants were in 1995 and totaled $25,000.00. Due to prudent investment policies and the growth of the Corpus the total money available for Grants has grown over the years. Last year Flow Health Care Foundation Granted $280,000.00 to Denton County Non-Profit Health Care Related Entities and (2) Holley Hervey Scholarships to University of North Texas Psychology Department.
For the 23 years of its existence, the Flow Health Care Foundation has pumped over $4.2 Million Dollars into the Health Care Related Non-Profits that directly benefit the residents of Denton County that could otherwise not afford care. Admin 9.24.18
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