The Illinois Central Railroad Hospital at 1501 Broadway in Paducah served railroad employees and the surrounding community for more than 70 years. It dates back to Jan. 15, 1884, when the Chesapeake, Ohio & Southwestern Railroad (not to be confused with the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad) established a hospital in a house on Broadway between 14th and 16th streets. The hospital was located near the railroad’s shop complex along Kentucky Avenue. Collis P. Huntington, who controlled the CO&SW, supported the opening of the hospital as a way to improve employee health and maintain a reliable workforce.
By 1895, the original building had become overcrowded. Huntington provided funding for the construction of a larger hospital on the same site.
In 1896, the Illinois Central Railroad acquired the CO&SW, including the Paducah hospital, through a bankruptcy sale. Over time, the hospital was expanded and modernized. Management of the facility later passed to the Illinois Central Railroad Hospital Association, an organization legally separate from the railroad. The association was funded through deductions from employee paychecks. Paducah became the first of the Illinois Central’s three railroad hospitals. In 1911, the Illinois Central Railroad Hospital Department was established to oversee hospitals in Paducah, Chicago and New Orleans, and the Hospital Association was subsequently merged into the new department.
On July 10, 1917, the wooden hospital building in Paducah was destroyed by fire. Hospital staff—including nurses and doctors, along with local volunteers—safely evacuated all 23 patients. Following several months of deliberation, the Illinois Central Railroad Hospital Department decided to rebuild the facility. Plans were prepared and bids solicited in 1918, but construction was delayed by labor and material shortages during World War I. The reconstructed hospital opened in December 1919.
The Illinois Central Hospital officially closed on May 31, 1957. Prior to closing, the Paducah facility was the largest hospital in the Illinois Central Railroad system between Chicago and New Orleans. Its closure marked the end of a significant chapter in Paducah’s railroad and medical history.
After its closure, the building was sold to local contractor George Katterjohn Jr., who converted it into an office building leased to a variety of tenants, including medical offices. Although the property changed ownership within a few years, it continued to be known locally as the Katterjohn Building.
Eventually, the building fell into disrepair and sat vacant for about 20 years. The Paducah Board of Commissioners approved its demolition in March 2024.