The year 2025 promises to be a historic one for the Berryville Public library and, by extension, for the town of Berryville. We broke ground on the new library in April, so the library should be finished in the spring of 2026. Preparation for the new building has made us at the Berryville Library nostalgic and reflective, not just about the library’s history but also about the town’s history. Other seminal moments in Berryville Library history occurred in 1938 and 1978, so we’ll be looking back this year on what Berryville was like then, as well as what it is like now, as we also look to the future.
For September, we are looking at how Berryville has stayed healthy over the years.
Though there have been medical care providers in the county since the 1800s, the first hospital didn’t start until the 1930s.
I have read mixed information, but the general gist is that by 1930s, there was a hospital in Berryville. Some accounts say midwife Vera Gentry was hosting a hospital in her home in Berryville by then, and she delivered babies and doctors conducted tonsillectomies and appendectomies there and closed down when the Berryville Hospital was opened near Branch and Madison by Dr. A.L. Carter and Dr. Parker in the early 1940s. Other reports I have seen instead date the opening of the Berryville Hospital itself to 1930 and report that Vera was a nurse for local doctor Carter (who eventually ran the Berryville Hospital after Parker and whom the ballfield is named after) while also conducting her own hospital in her home.
Regardless of the discrepancy over the establishment of the hospital, everyone agrees that once it was operational, it did provide medical care to the residents of Berryville and beyond until 1969, when the Carroll General Hospital opened at the current Mercy Hospital location.
By the 1990s, the hospital had become part of the Mercy health system, and the hospital was also expanded to its current size.
Currently, we have the Mercy Hospital, as well as its clinic, and a NARMC clinic, 3 pharmacies, an eyecare clinic, 2 dentists, and multiple physical therapy offices in Berryville. In addition, many county residents also travel to the NWA Metro area, Springfield, or Harrison for further specialists.
But now we want to hear about how you and your family stay healthy in Carroll County.
You can answer the prompts at any of our collection stations at the library, the community center, and the historical society. Also feel free to email us your responses and any pictures you have from the 1930s, 1970s, and now at celebrateberryville@gmail.com.
Everyone who fills out the prompt is eligible for our prize drawing. Each month up to five lucky people will win small prizes that celebrate fun things to do, fun places to eat, fun things made–you get the idea–all in Berryville! Responses and photos are also eligible for inclusion in our commemorative book at the end of this project.
Learn more about Celebrate Berryville on our landing page!
The following sources were especially helpful for researching this article:
“Berryville.” Carroll County Arkansas. https://carrollcountyar.com/berryville.php
Mercy Hospital. “Mercy Hospital Berryville Quick Facts.” https://www.mercy.net/newsroom/mercy-hospital-berryville-quick-facts/
Rachel Silva. “Walk Through History: Downtown Berryville.” Arkansas Historic
Preservation Program. May 16, 2015. https://www.arkansasheritage.com/docs/default-source/ahpp-documents/sandwiching-tour-scripts/berryville-tour-script-2015b611f167-35b1-4d6a-a67b-5b2ee0a0ccd5.pdf?sfvrsn=8095d8f2_5
Shiloh Museum of History. “Scenes of Carroll County.” Online Exhibit. https://shilohmuseum.org/project/scenes-of-carroll-county/
Berryville Book Buzz 