The Hill-Cohn Sanitarium was located on the north side of West Morgan Street near the Martinsville town square. It was at the corner of West Morgan and Marion Streets in what was a block crowded with sanitariums.

     The Hill-Cohn was developed by David Cohn and his parents-in-law Harrison and Mary Hill in 1904. David Cohn had married their daughter Martha Jane Hill in 1886, and the couple moved to Martinsville with their son, Michael, in 1903. Cohn and the Hills already owned several boardinghouses in Martinsville by the time they opened the Hill-Cohn. Michael Cohn was also active in running the Hill-Cohn and assisting his father with his other business pursuits. Planning on developing a sanitarium, Mary Hill bought the nearby Faust house on Marion Street in January 1904 plus neighboring houses on the southeast and southwest of the Faust property. The Faust home became the Hill House boardinghouse and the sanitarium was usually referred to as the Hill House throughout its existence. Contractor W.W. Wilson used the Hill House as the main part of the Hill-Cohn structure and built an addition containing the sanitarium facilities.

     A distinctive colonial porch was added onto the house, extending along the south and west sides. Wilson s construction was quickly completed in less than a month, and the Hill-Cohn Sanitarium was open for business around June 27, 1904. The sanitarium s $8,000 bathing facilities included fourteen bathrooms. The ladies' section of the building was on the upper floors, and the men's bathing areas occupied the lower floor. Rooming capacity was 100, but the Hills and Cohns planned to house any extra guests in one of their nearby boardinghouses if the sanitarium overfilled. The spa immediately appealed to a variety of classes of people and one of its strengths seems to have been its homelike atmosphere. In the spring of 1914, the demand for services and accommodations at the Hill-Cohn and other local spas became so great that additions were built onto the original structure. David Cohn eventually bought out his mother-in-law s interest in the sanitarium, and was the sole owner when he retired in 1920. Cohn sold the Hill-Cohn to A.W. Legg and Dr. Longfellow of Windfall, Indiana. The sanitarium continued to be operated by Michael Cohn until after 1926. In August, 1926, The Martinsville Democrat reported just enough information to whet its readers appetites for gossip in its News of the Sanitariums column by mentioning that A noted singer is stopping at this hotel for a rest and desired that her name not be mentioned as she does not desire publicity at this time. An ad from 1929 states that Hill-Cohn services ran between $14 and $17.50 per week, placing it in the medium level of cost: Including Room, Board, Hot Water, Steam and Vapor Baths by Experienced Attendants. Doctor's Services with Electric Treatment. Meals Served Home Style.

     Despite its modest successes, the Hill-Cohn folded soon after the onset of the Depression. The Schnaiter Lumber Company, a longtime staple of Martinsville commerce, bought the sanitarium in 1933. The lumber company existed on the site until 1953. At the time of writing, the site is occupied by the John Hubler Chrysler Dodge dealership.