🧱 Nichols’ Sanitorium aka Castle Manor aka Felde Castle

Address:  209 North 16th Street, Hot Springs, SD

Built:  1907

First Occupant:  Dr. Perry Nichols Cancer Sanatorium

Current Occupant (2025):  John and Michelle Felde – Private residence

Sandstone Quarry:  Unknown (still under investigation)

Architect:  Unknown

Contractor:  Unknown

Architectural Style:  Romanesque Revival

📜 Historical Overview

Perched on a sandstone hilltop northeast of downtown, Nichols’ Sanitorium was built around 1907 by Dr. Perry Nichols as a private cancer treatment facility. Its imposing Romanesque Revival form—with round towers, crenellated battlements, and smooth local sandstone—earned it the nickname “the Castle.” Nichols treated patients with the controversial “escharotic method” of zinc and arsenic pastes, which drew national attention before being discredited in 1933.

In 1917 the Lutheran Church purchased the property, opening a community hospital that later became part of the Lutheran Hospital and Homes Society of America. After serving general medical needs for two decades, the hospital was designated a regional polio treatment center in 1946, when outbreaks were sweeping the country. Entire floors were devoted to polio care, and a full physiotherapy department—including a therapy pool—occupied the basement. Families from across the Southern Black Hills brought children here for long courses of treatment.

A new wing opened in 1952 as the West River Crippled Children’s Hospital and School, continuing to treat polio’s after-effects and other orthopedic conditions. With the arrival of Dr. Jonas Salk’s vaccine soon after, new cases declined and the hospital gradually shifted back to general medicine. Through the 1950s and 1960s it remained a busy regional center for surgery, obstetrics, and internal medicine, remembered by many local residents who either received care there or worked alongside physicians such as Dr. T.R. Jacobson and Dr. John Butler.

Over the following decades the complex evolved again—becoming Southern Hills General Hospital, later Southern Hills Medical Center, and expanding to include nursing-home services. After achieving Critical Access Hospital status in 2001 it operated as Fall River Health Services until 2010, then housed long-term care until 2014.

On December 15, 2014 the property was purchased by Castle Manor LLC, and in 2022 it became the private residence of John and Michelle Felde, now popularly known as Felde Castle. From its origins as a pioneering cancer sanatorium to its pivotal role in the polio era and beyond, the building embodies more than a century of medical and community history in Hot Springs.

🏛 Architectural Notes

• Romanesque Revival design with round towers and crenelated parapets
• Merlons — stone “blocks” topping the parapets — reinforce the castle-like silhouette
• Smooth-faced sandstone construction, likely from local Fall River County quarries
• Elevated siting on a sandstone ridge enhances its fortress-like presence

📍 Later Uses

• 1917–1938: Lutheran Hospital Association / Community Hospital

• 1938–1952: Crippled Children’s Hospital and regional polio treatment center

• 1952–2000s: Southern Hills General Hospital / Southern Hills Medical Center

• 1968–2010: Nursing home and hospital expansions

• 2001–2010: Fall River Health Services (Critical Access Hospital)

• 2010–2014: Long-term care facility

• 2014–Present: Private residence (Felde Castle)

🔍 Research Notes & Requests

Save Our Sandstone is still seeking:

• Original architectural drawings or builder records
• Historic photographs from the Nichols Sanatorium era
• Confirmation of the specific quarry source

QR Code Info:  Perched on a sandstone ridge, this Romanesque “castle” was built c.1907 by Dr. Perry Nichols as a cancer sanatorium. With its towers and crenelated battlements, it later became the Lutheran Hospital, the Crippled Children’s Hospital, and a regional polio center before evolving into Southern Hills General Hospital. Today it endures as a private residence known as Felde Castle.