19TH MEDICAL DISTRICT OF OHIO

The 19TH MEDICAL DISTRICT OF OHIO, the Greater Cleveland-Medina area, was one of 20 districts designated by the State of Ohio in 1824 for licensing doctors and supervising medical care. Though the original bill was passed in 1811, the number of districts changed as population shifted in the growing state. On 24 May 1824, all qualified area physicians met at a hotel at Water and St. Clair streets to form the 19th District Medical Society. DAVID LONG, Cleveland's first physician, was elected president. The organization scheduled biannual meetings and set up formal licensing procedures for physicians. At first the meetings were held throughout the district, but Cleveland's better accommodations and transportation made the city the regular home base. Within 2 years the society organized a medical library and set up a committee to purchase books. Little else is known about this organization, reorganized in 1859 as the CUYAHOGA COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY.