Hopkins, H. St. George, M.D.

Born in Virginia in 1834, Dr. Henry St. George Lyons Hopkins was educated at the University of Virginia and the University of Pennsylvania, earning both academic and medical degrees in 1855. During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army as a frontline soldier before being appointed chief surgeon on General D. H. Hill’s staff and taking charge of General Hospital No. 19 in Richmond. After practicing medicine in Baltimore, Nevada, and Oakland following the war, he relocated to Fresno in 1881, where he practiced for over thirty-three years.

Throughout his career in Fresno, Dr. Hopkins held numerous prominent public positions, including County Health Officer, President of the County Medical Society, and United States Pension Examiner. He initiated the fundraising movement that led to the installation of the iconic boy-with-the-dripping-boot drinking fountain in Courthouse Park and briefly joined the Nome gold rush in 1900 as a physician. Twice married and the father of seven children, Dr. Hopkins died in 1914, leaving a distinguished legacy as an accomplished physician, decorated veteran, and esteemed civic leader.