The Buis Sanitarium was located at the corner of North Marion and West Pike Streets 1« blocks from the town square. The spa was originally the Buis Hotel, an ordinary hotel owned and operated by Reason Buis prior to 1915. The Hill-Cohn Sanitarium was partially owned by Mary Hill, who was related to Reason Buis brother-in-law, James Hill. Buis decided to convert his hotel into a sanitarium prior to the spring of 1915 and had a well drilled on the property in April 1915. He also went about making improvements to the hotel in preparation of the busy summer spa season before the well drilling was completed, adding onto the north side of the hotel with plans to have a sun porch built. The conglomeration of structures that became the Buis Sanitarium included the Buis Hotel and an adjoining house and property. The Buis was also connected to the neighboring Hill-Cohn Sanitarium to the north by a glass-enclosed walkway. The artesian well on the Buis property was drilled at 700 feet after many setbacks, including an explosion when natural gas was reached, and veins of coal, rock, and salt water. Despite unforeseen drilling delays, the Buis Sanitarium was completed by July 1915, in time to assist the other sanitariums in Martinsville in housing an influx of visitors.

     The primary house physician at the time was Dr. Otis Gailbraith of Indianapolis, who decided to return to Indianapolis in December 1915. He was replaced by Dr. Charles H. Jones, another Indianapolis physician originally from Lafayette, Indiana. The Buis Sanitarium did not receive much attention from the local newspapers, although in April 1917, it was the setting for a melodramatic suicide attempt by a young visitor who slashed his wrists with a safety razor. He was found by Buis employees and received prompt medical attention. The young man was described as being of an "unbalanced mind" but survived.

     Mrs. Dora Thompson, William Bailey, and Alexander Stanley purchased the Buis Sanitarium, forming the Old Buis Sanitarium Corporation for $100,000 in late 1919. They changed the spa s name to the Southern Sanitarium upon purchase and undertook extensive remodeling. The new owners announced in January 1920 that the Southern would cater only to black guests, making it the second sanitarium in Martinsville to openly welcome African-Americans and, it was said, the only all-black sanitarium in the U.S. at the time. The first sanitarium for blacks in Martinsville -- also said to be the only all-black sanitarium in the country at the time -- had been the short-lived Clark Sanitarium on Morgan Street from 1901 to approximately 1902. The Southern was also the only sanitarium in Martinsville to have a female owner whose husband was not also a co-owner.

     At the time of its opening, the local media did not complain or protest the all-black policy. Its purpose was to provide sanitarium facilities and housing for both well-off blacks and also white sanitarium guests black servants and personal staff who were refused housing and services in the town s other sanitariums. The Martinsville Democrat simply reported that the sanitarium was "supposed to be the only colored sanitarium in the U.S. and will draw its guests from a wide field." Outcry from local citizens supposedly caused the sanitarium to close around 1926, only six years after opening with the all-black policy, although living memories do not substantiate this claim, and it was not documented in the local newspapers. Dora Thompson left Martinsville and moved to Indianapolis shortly after her radical business venture failed. In 1926 the Branch Grain and Seed Company purchased the Southern Sanitarium and property and eventually razed the Southern.