Sanatorium, the community, was named for the Mississippi Tuberculosis Sanatorium, whose creation owed primarily to the efforts of Dr. Henry Boswell. After receiving treatment in Texas, Boswell, himself a tuberculosis victim, returned to Mississippi to convalesce and became convinced the disease could be treated there as well as anywhere else. In 1916, the Mississippi Legislature authorized the sanatorium, and Simpson County was chosen as its site. The location, 3 miles north of Magee, stood at the highest point between Jackson and Gulfport. Citizens of Magee donated 200 acres of land and, together with the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad, $2,000 for construction. Additional appropriations helped the institution continue to grow in size and service. In 1930, Boswell opened the Preventorium, the first institution of its kind in the South, devoted to caring for undernourished children and strengthening them to prevent their ever contracting tuberculosis. The sanatorium served for several decades. In 1976, the old facilities were transferred to the MS Department of Mental and renamed Boswell Regional Center, now an Intermediate Care Facility for Persons with Mental Retardation and other developmental disabilities. In the 1990s, the post office was abolished and the community was incorporated into Magee. The campus remains open for public tours and includes several original buildings, some listed on the National Register of Historic Places.