| City/Town: • Milledgeville |
| Location Class: • Government • Jail |
| Built: • 1938 | Abandoned: • 2008 |
| Status: • Abandoned |
| Photojournalist: • Gage Griffith |
Table of Contents
Rivers Hospital
Established in 1940 as Rivers Hospital, an independent facility within the Central State Hospital grounds in Milledgeville, Georgia, it focused on the treatment of tuberculosis and various internal diseases. During the construction phase in 1938, the buried remains of at least 2,000 African-American patients had to be relocated to the State Hospital’s main cemetery. Rivers Hospital, deemed state-of-the-art, Replaced a former tuberculosis building that was constructed in the late 1800’s. It boasted its own kitchen, laboratory, surgical center, administrative offices, specialized medical staff, and a dedicated pathology department.
Named after Eurith Dickinson Rivers, born on December 1, 1895. Rivers held consecutive two-year terms as Georgia’s governor in 1938. During his initial term, Rivers spearheaded an expansion of state services. However, by the conclusion of his second term, Rivers and his administration faced allegations of corruption, including the controversial use of the National Guard to settle political conflicts.
The complex comprised five buildings: two patient wings, a central administration building, a maintenance and pathology building, and a laboratory building, which by 1955 had become the primary medical laboratory for the State Hospital. These structures were connected by a partially submerged tunnel system containing equipment rooms and exits to a lower outside courtyard, Providing convenient movement for both staff and patients between the buildings.
Rivers Prison
With the increasing deinstitutionalization movement leading to the closure of sections of Central State Hospital, numerous buildings underwent conversion into state prisons. Among them was the former Rivers Hospital, which was largely vacated, apart from outpatient doctor’s offices, by 1974, mainly due to the declining number of tubercular cases.
In 1981, following a $200,000 renovation by the Georgia Department of Offender Rehabilitation, the Rivers Hospital complex underwent a transformation into Rivers State Prison. The Georgia DOR erected massive chain-link fences topped with razor wire. Former patient spaces were repurposed into large open dormitories, and the Pathology Department was converted into an education center for inmates. Additionally, a substantial wing was adapted into an isolation-segregation unit for the most problematic inmates.
At its peak, Rivers State Prison accommodated 1,100 medium-security inmates. However, by the 2000s, the Georgia Department of Corrections deemed Rivers to be problematic. Multiple inmate escapes and twin riots prompted the DOC to initiate a study into the feasibility of continuing operations at Rivers. It was concluded that the prison was unsuitable for housing inmates and posed safety risks for staff. Consequently, the prison was shut down in 2008.
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