When Sandusky, Ohio, veterinarian Dr. Michael E. Metroka commemorated his practice's 75th anniversary in February, he had
reasons to believe it might be the nation's oldest that has operated continuously "within the same four walls."
Signs from the past: Upper left, note the old hitching posts inside the Patterson Dog and Cat Hospital and at lower right
some signs from bygone days. Upper right: Dr. Glynes Graham performs a procedure. Lower left: the building exterior near downtown
Detroit.
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He acknowledged, though, that he couldn't prove that.
Now it turns out that he definitely can't lay claim to the title.
After DVM Newsmagazine (February 2008) featured the interesting history behind Metroka's Prohibition-Era building, six older practices around the
nation made themselves known through e-mails, letters and telephone calls. The oldest of them is the Patterson Dog and Cat Hospital in Detroit — established in 1844 and in continuous operation in the
same building since 1909.
With the disclaimer that the true record-holder might still be out there, here's what DVM Newsmagazine learned about the six practices:
Patterson Dog and Cat Hospital
Location: Detroit
Practice founded: 1844
Current owner: Dr. Glynes Graham
121 years in business: Pomeroy's Animal Hospital has operated in the same location in downtown St. Paul, Minn., since 1886,
the year the present owner's grandfather, Benjamin A. Pomeroy, began to practice.
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IT'S LOCATED IN Woodbridge, a tough old Detroit neighborhood, but Graham, who's lived in the area all her life, worked at the hospital since
her late teens and acquired the practice in 1985 — just two years after she graduated from Michigan State University — says
she wouldn't live or work anywhere else.
She recalls the 150th anniversary celebration she held at the hospital 14 years ago, in 1994, that drew 200 people.
The story of how the practice came into her hands is a long one.
In 1844, veterinarian William James Patterson came to Detroit, then a town of only 10,000, from England, setting up his large-animal
veterinary surgery practice downtown; he was still Detroit's only DVM as late as 1857 and lived until 1890.
His son, Elijah Patterson, moved the practice to what then was a nearby rural area, and in 1909 built a brick residence and
a brick hospital 40 feet by 80 feet on the site, where his patients were riding, draft and thoroughbred horses.
In 1926, the hospital underwent its first and only renovation, and the practice began shifting mostly to companion animals.
Horse stalls were replaced with exam rooms, labs and boarding kennels.
In 1946, veterinarian Raymond Howard began working with Elijah Patterson, then in his 80s, and his son, James, who ran the
business. Elijah Patterson died four years later, at age 85.
By that time, the residence and hospital had long been absorbed into the near-downtown Woodbridge neighborhood. Patterson's
son, Jim Jr., didn't take up veterinary medicine so Patterson made Howard heir to the business. But after a 1962 robbery at
the hospital, during which he was pistol-whipped, Howard gave notice and left to start his own practice in the suburbs.
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