Looking Back: Sioux Falls Clinic served downtown until 1965

A very recognizable and prominent landmark once stood at the southwest corner of 11th Street and Minnesota Avenue. The Sioux Falls Medical and Surgical Clinic existed from 1920 to 1965 and served the community well in that time.

The location had been the site of the First Methodist Church’s second Sioux Falls location since 1890. By 1913, the growth of the church’s congregation had necessitated a move to a larger building.

The new medical facility, which opened July 1, 1920, was a beautiful, three-story brick edifice with plenty of windows for good lighting year round. At a cost estimated to be $100,000, the clinic was promised to be the most advanced and up-to-date medical facility in the area. It was the project of a group called Physicians’ Investment Co., which consisted of eight doctors who, along with practicing at the facility, would contribute to its construction and operation. These eight physicians included N. J. Nessa, the first radiologist in South Dakota, and Edwin L. Perkins, who helped launch McKennan Hospital. The other founding doctors were Thomas J. Billion, E. E. Gage, Monty A. Stern, George A. Stevens, his cousin Roy G. Stevens, and Guy E. Van Demark. All of these doctors were very successful in their own right and some were among the very first doctors in Dakota Territory.

The operation, most commonly called Sioux Falls Clinic, was home to every conceivable facet of medical care. Surgeries were performed on the premises, babies delivered, X-Rays taken, teeth pulled, accident victims cared for, and prescriptions filled. At the time, there were several hospitals and clinics spread around Sioux Falls to care for its citizens; Sioux Valley Hospital had been around since 1894, McKennan since 1911, and Moe Hospital had opened three years earlier.

Looking Back:Rocket man Kolonel Keds visited Sioux Falls in 1965

Over the years, the physicians associated with Sioux Falls Clinic changed. Some doctors retired, others hung their shingles there for the first time. By 1965, when the business closed, most of the principle investors had died. The land was sold that year and plans were quickly made to replace the building. That corner had great visibility and would be valuable to any business fortunate enough to acquire it.

The building was razed in late December 1965. It would be replaced by a new Firestone service center, which relocated from the southwest corner of Fifth and Dakota. The new location had much more room for auto and tractor service than its prior location. The doctors who worked at the Sioux Falls Clinic took their practices to other places in the area, but the memory of the old Sioux Falls Clinic stuck around for a years. Medical facilities have many associations for people — hopefully the good associations surpass the bad.