DR. HENRY FOSTER
- Program
- Subject
- Location
- Lat/Long
- Grant Recipient
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NYS Historic
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People
- 11 E Main St, Clifton Springs, NY 14432, USA
- 42.9614, -77.136298
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Clifton Springs Historical Society
DR. HENRY FOSTER
Inscription
DR. HENRY FOSTER1821-1901. FOUNDED WATER-CURE
CO. HERE CA. 1850 OFFERING
SULPHUR WATER TREATMENTS TO
HEAL MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT.
SANITARIUM CONSTRUCTED 1896.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2020
Following the completion of medical school in Ohio, Dr. Henry Foster worked at water-cure treatment facilities in Lowell, MA and Utica, NY before establishing his own water-cure company here ca. 1850. The sulphur springs in Clifton Springs were central to his water-cure treatments; however, these mineral-rich waters were well-known and widely used by the Seneca who inhabited this region long before white settlement. Dr. Foster and his associates incorporated as the Clifton Springs Water-Cure Company in 1854 and later changed the name to The Clifton Springs Sanitarium Company in 1871. By 1881, he turned over the management of the company to a board of thirteen trustees.
Since the original building could only accommodate approximately 30 patients, construction of a new facility commenced in 1892 and was completed in 1896. The Sanitarium offered treatments for non-contagious diseases, with the cost of board and treatment for one person ranging from $23 to $25 per week. Patients received care from multiple medical departments and enjoyed the of 60 acres of parks, gardens, and farm surrounding the Sanitarium. Throughout his career, Dr. Foster emphasized the interconnection of the mind, body, and spirit as well as the necessity to address all three during treatments. Greatly influenced by his Christian faith, he asserted that his work as the physician was “to put the human being, by personal cleansings and other ways, in harmony with the ordinary laws of life and health, and so in the proper position to get well, but the divine power alone heals, no matter whether it is directly or through means applied.”
Dr. Foster maintained an active role at the Sanitarium until his death on January 15, 1901. He is buried at the Clifton Springs Village Cemetery in Clifton Springs, NY. The Sanitarium later influenced what is now the Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic, which still provides mineral water treatments at its spa facility.
As of 2020, the marker commemorating Dr. Henry Foster stands outside his former Sanitarium, which is now operated as a senior housing complex, renamed the Spa Apartments.
