The Growth of Health, Education and Sports Facilities in Çorum (1950-1980)

Alongside the city’s rapid population growth, the book Çorum Tarihi (Turkish, “History of Çorum”) describes a marked expansion of health, education and sports services in Çorum between 1950 and 1980. This page summarizes those developments from the chapter written by İlhan Tekeli.

Growth of Health Services

The 100-bed State Hospital and the 50-bed Maternity and Child Care Home, both opened before 1950, received new additions in this period: a chest-disease hospital and dispensary was established in the early 1950s, a clinic building was added to the State Hospital in 1955, and the Social Insurance Institution (SSK) Hospital opened in 1974. As a result, the city’s in-patient health capacity grew to four institutions: the State Hospital (300 beds, with an extension underway in 1973), the Maternity and Child Care Home (50 beds, 1940), the Chest Hospital (125 beds, 1950) and the SSK Hospital (78 beds, 1974) (Çorum Tarihi, p. 320-321).

Medical staff numbers also grew with the population: in 1967 the city had 23 doctors, 4 dentists and 5 pharmacies; by 1973 the number of doctors had risen to 24, dentists to 12 and pharmacists to 13. By 1981 there were 9 general practitioners and 13 specialist doctors, along with 3 technicians, 5 lab technicians, 111 nurses and 216 orderlies (Çorum Tarihi, p. 321).

Growth of Education Services

The number of primary schools rose to 14 with the opening of the Hürriyet, 27 Mayıs, Kale, Şenyurt, Bahçelievler, İnönü and Binevler schools after 1950; by 1980 every neighbourhood in the city had its own primary school. Pre-school education was still quite new: a kindergarten class opened at the Çorum Girls’ Institute in the 1964-65 school year, followed by one at Bahçelievler Primary School in 1970-71 (Çorum Tarihi, p. 321-322).

Çorum Secondary School, which had evolved from an Ottoman-era rüşdiye school in 1924, had also housed a high-school section from the 1946-47 school year; in 1966-67 the secondary section split off and took the name Eti Secondary School, and in 1969-70 a second secondary school, today’s Atatürk Secondary School, opened. Vocational education was provided by the First Teachers’ School (1955), the İmam Hatip School (1953), the Health School (opened 15 October 1965, for girls only, boarding), the Commerce High School (opened 25 September 1967), the Girls’ Vocational Institute (opened in 1941 as an evening girls’ craft school and upgraded to an institute in 1942) and the Boys’ Vocational Institute (1942); these schools gradually expanded with evening classes and travelling village courses (Çorum Tarihi, p. 322-323). The city’s only institution of higher education was the Çorum Vocational College, which opened in 1976 with departments in business administration, accounting, construction, electricity and motors; in 1979-80 it had 49 students and 4 faculty members (Çorum Tarihi, p. 323).

Complementary institutions included an educational materials centre founded in 1952; an orphanage/boarding school opened in 1963 by the Association for the Protection of Needy Children, which moved into a new 390-capacity building in 1972; a student dormitory opened by the General Directorate of Foundations (Vakıflar) in 1956; and private cram schools (such as Özel Büyük Dersane and Özel Başarı Dersanesi) that spread after the 1970s. According to the book, in the 1976-1977 university entrance exams, 12.5 per thousand of the candidates from Çorum province passed, placing the province 28th nationally (Çorum Tarihi, p. 324).

Growth of Sports Facilities

Until 1949 Çorum had no significant sports facility, and sporting activities were run through the community centre (halkevi). Construction of a regional physical-education building, a gymnasium and a stadium began in 1949, prompting the formation of sports clubs, and league football began being played from 1950. Initially the stadium had only a 250-seat covered stand and no open stand; it was upgraded after Çorum joined the third division in 1966, with the covered stand enlarged to 2,000 seats and a 9,000-seat open stand added, making it suitable for both athletics and football (Çorum Tarihi, p. 324). This was the first stage of growth of what later became known as Dr. Turhan Kılıçcıoğlu Stadium, the home of Çorumspor for half a century. A 2,000-seat indoor sports hall, suitable for any indoor competition, also opened on 18 January 1966 (Çorum Tarihi, p. 324).

According to the book’s list of clubs, the city’s oldest sports club was Kale İdman Yurdu, founded in 1925, followed by clubs no longer active such as Çorum Gençlik Kulübü (1948) and Güneş Spor Gençlik Kulübü (1949). Çorumspor, forerunner of today’s Çorum FK, was founded on 29 June 1967; active at the same time were clubs such as Çimentospor (1959) and Çorum Kültürspor (1971), as well as district clubs including Osmancık Gençlik, İskilip Gençlik, Alaca Gençlik, Sungurlu Çelikspor and Kargı Gençlik (Çorum Tarihi, p. 325).

Sources

• İlhan Tekeli, “1950-1980 Döneminde Kentin Faaliyetlerindeki Gelişmeler” (“Developments in the City’s Activities in the Period 1950-1980”), Çorum Tarihi (History of Çorum), 5. Hitit Festivali Komitesi; ed. Çorum Belediyesi Kent Arşivi, 3rd ed., Çorum Belediyesi Kültür Yayını, Çorum 2020, p. 320-326. https://www.corum.bel.tr/public/uploads/2026/01/corumtarihi.pdf