Listed on National Register for Historic Places since 2010

The Triana Health Clinic is a historic structure that most notably operated as a public health clinic for over four decades in the quiet river town of Triana, Alabama. The stone-clad Craftsman building, originally called the Game Warden’s Residence was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in 1941. It is the last remaining of four such structures built for the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge.

The clinic was instrumental in providing health care to rural, low-income Black families in North Alabama under the direction of two medical pioneers – Dr. Harold Fanning Drake and Nurse Johnnie LouJeanne Dent.

Our story

In the mid-2000s the Triana Historical Society embarked on a campaign to save the Triana Health Clinic, after the building suffered a catastrophic roof collapse some time after it closed as a clinic in 1990. The Triana Historical Society rallied to save the structure by raising enough money to build a new roof in 2004. But there was more work to be done. In 2010, an Americorps team led by Chris McDowell traveled from New Orleans to salvage the interior contents of the building for future reuse. In 2014, enough funding was raised to hire Architect, Dave Ely of KPS Group to create a preservation plan for the interior reconstruction. A year later, Betty Williams, President of the Triana Historical Society had raised more than $75,000 to begin the first phase of reconstruction, beginning with major structural work. 

By late 2019, during the Bicentennial of the Town of Triana, the Triana Health Clinic had entered its final chapter of a five-year long construction project. Over $150,000 of public and private donations helped achieve what was unthinkable just a decade before. 

Now, the project is ready to pivot to the future. The hope is that in a few short months, the Triana Health Clinic will be open to the public after 20 years of dormancy. The ultimate plan for the building is to be a multi-use space for the community – where the building can host town meetings, educational activities and public health screenings. The Triana Health Clinic is more to the community than a building, however – it is an icon for this quiet river town.