Cockerell Hospital

A February 1903 profile in The Southland, transcribed by the Henderson County TXGenWeb site, covers Dr. L. L. Cockerell nearly three decades before his hospital opened. It says he was born in Kaufman County on June 4, 1880, grew up on a farm and entered medical school in Memphis at eighteen. After two other medical schools he graduated in 1901 and located in Eustace. He married Lizzie Earnest of Ellis County in January 1902, and the profile mentions a baby son, a lucrative practice and the people's confidence.

What the plaque says

Cockerell Hospital In 1929, Dr. Lonnie Lee Cockerell (1879-1969) bought second-story building space on the northeast corner of the Eustace city square. The next year, he opened the first hospital in Henderson County. Dr. Cockerell offered a wide variety of services, ranging from vaccinations to dental work to surgery. Eustace residents came to the hospital for both acute and chronic health issues, and Dr. Cockerell accepted all patients, regardless of their ability to pay for services. In 1937, Dr. Cockerell began construction on a new hospital in Athens. He maintained the Eustace location until completion of the new structure. Although Cockerell Hospital closed in 1937, the physician continued to care for his Eustace patients. (2008)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Purtis Creek State Park — 3.2 mi
  A 1,582-acre park straddling the Henderson and Van Zandt county line, built around a 355-acre lake with no-wake fishing, borrowed tackle, a 4.1-mile hike-and-bike trail and a nature path.
• Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center — 15 mi
  A Texas Parks and Wildlife hatchery and visitor center in Athens where visitors can borrow tackle and fish a stocked pond, watch native species in gallery tanks and ride a tram around the hatchery.
• Petroleum Industry Park — 31 mi
  The pipes and drilling tower mark where a city water well struck oil on June 9, 1894, the start of the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities.

More markers nearby

• Ham (Pauline) — 3.1 mi
• Goshen Cemetery — 3.3 mi
• Payne Springs Methodist Church and Cemetery — 4.2 mi
• Site of Centerville — 4.8 mi