Lucy Helen Hospital

Fay Bigelow Crocker founded the Lucy Helen Memorial Hospital in 1918 during the time of the influenza epidemic but its main purpose was to serve the women of Fitchburg. The three-story brick mansion was built by Abiel Towne who manufactured wool around the 1870s. At first, it was just a home for her and her husband, C.T. Crocker II, but they soon opened it up. In 1922 it was used as a private maternity hospital and was named Lucy Helen hospital after Fay Crockers’ mother Lucy Bigelow and her husband's mother Helen Crocker.

The hospital was run privately for five years up to when Fay Crocker gave away the buildings to Burbank Hospital. The gift required that the hospital only serve the women of Fitchburg if it was to still be used as a hospital. The hospital was closed in 1954 due to the large number of patients coming in and out. Services were moved to the Burbank Hospital, and Lucy Helen Hospital was given over to the Christ Episcopal Church for a Hostelry for the Girls Friendly Society. In 1968 the property was handed over to the city and was demolished to have the U.S. Post Office built on the property.

An 1852 book, Rich Men of Massachusetts, describes the Abiel Towne, who built the hospital, as follows: "Started poor as you please. He was often heard to say 'When I began business, I could carry all my effects in a wheelbarrow.' Wools len manufacturer. A man of close application to business. He goe, straight ahead, minds his own bread and cheese, uses everybody fairly-but uses no flummery. If he has not held offices of trust, it is not because offices of trust have not been held out to him. A genuine specimen of honest, industrious, every0day contentment. Mr. Towne is one of the best citizens in town."

Lucy Helen Hospital, The Historic Distric. October 10th 2017. Accessed May 3rd 2022. https://thehistoricdistrict.org/gallery/image/1125 .

SALUTE TO WOMEN: Crocker Family, Sentinel & Enterprise. July 31st 2013. Accessed May 3rd 2022. https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/2013/07/31/salute-to-women-crocker-family/.

Bulleting of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers - A Quarterly Magazine. Boston, Mass. national Association of Wool Manufacturers , 1902.

Hay, David Scott. Lucy Helen Hospital, November 18th 2014. Accessed May 4th 2022. http://haydavid.blogspot.com/2014/11/lucy-helen-hospital.html.

Forbes, Abner. The Rich Men of Massachusetts: Containing A Statement Of The Reputed Wealth Of About Fifteen Hundred Persons. 1852