Our History
A Tradition in Caring
Our founder, Amos Giles Rhodes, was born in 1850 in Henderson, Kentucky. In 1875 he came to Atlanta while laying crossties for the L & N Railroad, and one year later in 1876, married Amanda Dougherty. In 1879, living in the space above his small store, he began the furniture company that would make him a very successful, affluent, businessman and pillar of the community. He is credited with being the originator of the installment plan for purchasing furniture. Mr. A.G. Rhodes died in 1928, leaving a substantial endowment to the A.G. Rhodes communities.
The Hospital of the Atlanta Circle of the King’s Daughters and Sons, founded in 1897 and incorporated as a benevolent association on November 20, 1900, under a charter granted by the Fulton County Superior Court of the state of Georgia, was designated as a hospital for patients suffering from incurable diseases. Patients were housed in a wooden building located at 42 Church Street (now Carnegie Way) in Atlanta. The building was in terrible disrepair and Hospital officials approached Mr. Rhodes requesting that he fund roofing repairs.
Instead, Mr. Rhodes provided the land and funds needed for a new building. In 1904, the new building provided by Mr. Rhodes was completed at the corner of Boulevard and Woodward Avenue (our current Atlanta location); and all patients were moved on July 11, 1904. The main building was a two-story, colonial style, brick and masonry structure that housed patients on both floors. In December of 1911, the name was changed to The Home for Incurables Association.
In 1971, a 50 year lease with the Jesse Parker Williams Hospital funded an additional 35 beds. Terms of the agreement called for an immediate grant of $500,000 and an annual review in order for the Foundation to continue providing sufficient funding. These funds are designated to care for women who are in need of financial aid.
This agreement enabled the Rhodes Home to begin new construction in order to fulfill the ever-growing needs of the community. In 1974, part of the original building was demolished with the new construction replacing the 53 bed area with a new area for 92 beds. This brought the total patient capacity to 128. With the need still growing for nursing home care, in 1981, the nurses’ quarters were converted to private rooms raising the bed count to 138.
The Rhodes Home in Atlanta was one of the charter members of the United Way founded in Atlanta in 1923 as the Blue Feather. We are grateful for the grants awarded by the United Way and Foundations including the Jesse Parker Williams Foundation, The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation, the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, the Shallenberger Trust, the Fraser-Parker Foundation, the J. D. Rhodes Trust, the Albert N. Parker Trust and others. Along with the Foundation grants, private contributions and memorial donations help make it possible for the Rhodes communities to continue Mr. Rhodes’ gift of providing care to nursing home residents regardless of their ability to pay.
Today, our downtown community has been recently renovated and is complete with 138 beds. In April 1992, the second A.G. Rhodes location opened in Marietta with a total of 130 beds. As the need for nursing home care continued to grow, a third community with 150 beds was opened in September 1997 at the Emory – Wesley Woods Campus.
Each A.G. Rhodes Health & Rehab location is proud to be independant not-for profit organization.