William T. Thornton was born on December 28, 1877 in Washington Court House, Ohio. He graduated from medical school at the American Medical Missionary College in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1903 before moving to Stevensville, Montana, in 1907. In 1910, William built a private hospital in Stevensville, which became the first hospital in the Bitterroot Valley. He continued to operate this first hospital until he moved to Missoula in 1917 and established a new Thornton Hospital in the 500 block of South Third Street where he was joined in practice by his brother, Dr. Charles R. Thornton.
Charles Thornton was born on August 23, 1879 less than two years after his brother in Ohio. He also attended the American Medical Missionary College in Battle Creek before settling in Corvallis, Montana, where he opened a practice and became an expert in treating tick fever. When William Thornton opened Thornton Hospital in Missoula, Charles invested in it as well, becoming a co-owner less than a year after it opened.
By 1923, Thornton Hospital outgrew the building on Third Street, and the brothers built a new facility at 307 East Main Street (which later became the Missoula Public Library).
Dr. William Thornton died on April 28, 1943 in Missoula. After his brother's death, Dr. Charles Thornton decided to sell the hospital to the Memorial Hospital Association of Western Montana. The hospital's name was changed to Memorial Hospital, which later became Missoula Community Hospital. Charles Thornton moved to California after his retirement and died in February 1967 in Loma Linda. Missoula Community Hospital moved to its present-day campus in April of 1972.
The Photographs of Thornton Hospitals collection consist of images of the three Thornton hospital buildings in Stevensville and Missoula, Montana, and two portraits of Dr. William and Dr. Charles Thornton. Thornton Hospital in Stevensville was operated by Dr. William Thornton between 1910 and 1917. Thornton Hospital on South Third Street in Missoula was operated by both brothers between 1918 and 1923. The third Thornton Hospital facility on Main Street in Missoula operated between 1923 and 1947 before it was sold to the Memorial Hospital Association of Western Montana.
This collection is arranged by photo number.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University of Montana.
Photographs of Thornton Hospitals in Missoula and Stevensville, Montana, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
The photographs in this collection were held by Missoula General Hospital until Karen Foster, an administrator of the hospital, donated them to Friends of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library in 1986.
Gift of Karen Foster, 1986.
The Archives assigned photograph numbers to the images in the late 1980s. In 2022, the photographs were processed as the Photographs of Thornton Hospitals in Missoula and Stevensville, Montana (Mss 832).
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.