Hospitals and Clinics Sites

A federal Treasury Department-funded construction, the old National Leprosarium Infirmary building, "built in 1933, had 68 beds in two open wards--men upstairs and women downstairs. Architects provided screened porches across the front of the building to allow patients fresh air. Notice the flat roof. Originally canopies had been installed to give patients a shady spot in the non-air-conditioned building and a place to catch a breeze." In some files the facility was called "the National Home for Lepers." The contractor for infirmary construction was Murch Brothers Construction Co. of St. Louis.

"The Naval Hospital at Philadelphia was authorized by an act of Congress in 1931, but as insufficient funds were appropriated the buildings were completed with the aid of P.W.A. The site is a 22-acre plot north of League Island Park and the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The project includes the main hospital building, a nurses' home, corpsmen's quarters, four officers' quarters, a garage, film-storage building, greenhouse, and the necessary services, roads, and walks. The main hospital building is 13 stories in height. It has a normal capacity of 650 patients in 30-bed wards and single rooms, but...

The W.P.A. conducted improvement work at the former Naval Hospital Boston / Chelsea Naval Hospital in Chelsea, Mass. The area "is located along the Mystic River, west of the Northeast Expressway, in Chelsea. While the buildings are now privately owned, they can be viewed from the street. The Commanding Officer's Quarters, Naval Hospital building and ordnance buildings are all located on Commandant's Way, and the Marine Hospital building is located on Captains Row." W.P.A. project details: "Improvements at Chelsea Naval Hospital" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐110 Total project cost: $119,913.00 Sponsor: U.S. Navy Department "Improvements at Chelsea Naval Hospital" Official Project Number: 165‐2‐14‐266 Total project cost: $34,278.00 Sponsor: U.S....

The newspaper of what was then the North Dakota Agricultural College, The Spectrum of April 14, 1939 reported: "Student health fees, accumulating over a period of several years, will help finance the building of a $25,000 student health center on the campus, announces President Frank L. Eversull. Plans have been made for the project to be accomplished through WPA assistance. Tentative plans call for $10,000 of the student health fund to be augmented by $15,000 WPA money, although final arrangements have been on the WPA appropriation. Dr. Eversull adds that WPA officials have promised help in securing definite approval of the...

Tuberculosis hospitals were built in the state of Maine in the early part of the 20th century. 1,000 people a year died of tuberculosis in Maine before the advent of modern medicine. Following the success of private hospitals in Hebron & Fairfield Maine which were facing financial difficulty, the state took control. The Northern Maine Sanitorium was built in Presque Isle following the passing of a law in the Maine State Legislature April 9, 1921. In 1938, the P.W.A. offered a grant of $7,739 for repairs or improvements which were completed in 1939. The facilities at Hebron and Presque Isle were closed...

Multiple buildings on the grounds of what was then known as Norwich State Hospital were constructed as part of a federal Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) project during the 1930s. The P.W.A. supplied a $213,582 grant for the bridge's construction, whose total cost was $394,630. Construction occurred between Jan. 1938 and Sept. 1939. PWA Docket No. CT X1315

The Department of Health medical center at 130 Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn was constructed with Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor. This was one of three infant health stations in Brooklyn dedicated by Mayor La Guardia on May 10, 1939. The buildings cost about $50,000 each, with the WPA paying 60% and the city paying 40% of the costs.

The Colonial Revival building that served as the county health office was constructed in 1939-40 by the WPA. Part of the Macon Historic District, it currently is used as the county justice court (Barrow, 2001).

The Oak Knoll Tuberculosis Sanatorium, built in 1939 on an "oak-wooded knoll", according to the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, was renamed Norton Psychiatric in 1997. The PWA had contributed 45% of building costs. At the time, Sonoma County also applied for PWA funds to build nurses quarters at the hospital site- it is unknown whether these were actually built or if they still exist. The building is located across Chanate Rd. from the main hospital building.

The Obion County Health Department Clinic was undertaken in Union City, Tennessee during the Great Depression with the assistance of the Public Works Administration (PWA). The PWA built the "unadorned brick building for about ten thousand dollars" (Van West, p. 88). The location of the health clinic has since relocated and the building now serves as an agricultural extension office.

In 1920, a tuberculosis sanitarium was established in Sylmar, and was soon acclaimed to be one of the best such hospitals in the United States. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) helped with landscaping, receiving  $7,657 in federal funds. 33 men were employed during the 4 months it took to do the work. With tuberculosis contained, the hospital complex was retooled as an acute care hospital in 1962, in which the first successful open heart surgery in the San Fernando Valley was performed. Many of the buildings and landscaping of Olive View Hospital were destroyed in the San Fernando Earthquake of 1971.  

The New Deal funded a hospital addition in Orange, California, during the 1930s.  Funds almost surely came from the Public Works Administration (PWA). There is a photograph of the building in the National Archives, but it only gives the city and no address (and no date).  Most likely, it was the Orange County Hospital, which was later flooded by the Santa Ana River and no longer exists at that location. The New Deal addition was no doubt torn down along with the rest of the old hospital.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted repair work at Our Island Home in Nantucket. The facility, which is set back from the north/east side of Orange Street, is still in use.

Pendergast Preventorium, once a tuberculosis clinic, is no longer open to the public. The old facility grounds feature marked stone New Deal walls.

The Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) built a hospital in Jasper, ca. 1934. The project was started by the Civil Works Administration (CWA) and completed by ERA. The facility, which was located at Birmingham Ave. and 19th St., has since been demolished.

A $19,000 WPA project at Brentwood's Pilgrim State Hospital involved the "construction of walks, steps, and retaining wall steps around various buildings of the institution."

The Works Progress Administration built the Pima County Hospital in Tucson. The 30,000-square feet facility was laid out in four distinct units. It consisted of an “administration building which included doctors’ offices, lecture room, major and minor operating rooms, sterilizing facilities, the men’s ward, women’s ward; children’s and maternity wards; therapeutic ward, nurses’ home,” among others uses. Per TOMF.org: "The hospital stood between 38th and 39th streets, east of Sixth Avenue." The facility has since been demolished.

The Public Works Administration funded the construction of facilities for the Pine Crest Sanitarium, Beckley, Raleigh County. Project W. Va.-1126-DS. Today the facility is in service and operates as the Jackie Withrow Hospital. A market at the hospital site reads: "Established in 1927 by act of the Legislature to provide additional facilities for sufferers from tuberculosis. Opened to the public in 1930. Capacity increased, 1938. Early treatment of the disease is emphasized. Altitude 2350 feet."

The historic former post office in Tallulah, Louisiana was constructed ca. 1935 with Treasury Department funds. The building now houses the Madison Parish Health Unit. A mural created for the building has been relocated to Tallulah's current post office.

What is now Sand Island consists of mostly reclaimed land. During the early 20th century it was known as Quarantine Island. Substantially enlarged during the F.D.R. era prior to World Was II, on it was the federally managed U.S. Quarantine Station, which was likewise expanded with an array of new buildings during the 1930s using Treasury Department funds. (The island has been significantly expanded since that time as well.) A large block of new construction was undertaken in 1938-9: "Five new buildings were completed and equipped at the quarantine station---a hospital detention building with 23 bedrooms, 2 dining rooms, and a kitchen; a 10-room attendants' quarters; a large...

The PWA constructed the Queens General Hospital at 161st St. and 82d Drive. The hospital opened in 1935. The hospital was later greatly expanded and became part of the Queens Hospital Center. The current facility is located on the same site; most, if not all original buildings have been replaced or otherwise incorporated into more recent construction.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) was involved with four improvement projects at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey, CA. Rancho Los Amigos dates to 1888, when indigent patients from the Los Angeles County Hospital were relocated to what was then the County Poor Farm. The campus subsequently evolved into a treatment center for patients with chronic illnesses, including mental illness and diseases such as tuberculosis and polio. As of 1939, the WPA had completed two projects at the Rancho. Ground improvements (Proj. 6958) employed 42 men for six months; painting (Proj. 6959) employed 29 men for four months. Two improvement...

A Works Progress Administration grant of $71,325 was allotted Refugio County, to be matched by $87,175 of the county bond money, for the hospital project, with the total amounting to $158,500.

A two-story, Colonial Revival building, with a prominent cupola and portico. A PWA structure, it was designed by Providence architect Edwin E. Cull. Built to house administration offices and a medical library, it is now occupied by the Rhode Island Department of Corrections. The State Hospital for Mental Diseases is now known as Eleanor Slater Hospital.

A substantial structure, of conservative Colonial Revival design. Its only ornament of any significance is the Palladian Window in the center pavilion, with a delicate fan above. It was designed by Edwin E. Cull of Providence, who also designed the Hospital's administration offices in the same year.

A large, three-story building facing Howard Avenue, the main road through the hospital campus. The building, in the Colonial Revival style, is most notable for its prominent ogee gable. The ogee gable has been a recurring element in Rhode Island ever since amateur architect Joseph Brown's unorthodox use of it in his own residence in Providence, built in 1774. The architect of the Rush Building was Franklin R. Hindle, of Providence.

Now known as the Pinel Building, this building was built as a dormitory. It was designed by William R. Walker & Son, a Providence firm known for public buildings. It is built in the Colonial Revival style.

Now known as the Dorothea Dix Building, this building was built as a dormitory. It was designed by William R. Walker & Son, a Providence firm known for public buildings. In the Colonial Revival style. Built by both the Hospital and State Prison to house criminals with mental disorders, as was the neighboring Building for Disturbed Men.

In 1936, this three story hospital building was remodeled under the P.W.A. The architect was Albert H. Humes, of Pawtucket. It was originally built in 1918 and designed by John Hutchins Cady of Providence. It is today part of the Minimum Security prison.

A large, three-story Colonial Revival building. It was designed by architect John F. Hogan, of Providence. It was built concurrently with neighboring Simpson Hall, which is nearly identical, though by different architects. Barry Hall was named for a former superintendent of nurses.

A large multi-purpose building, in the Colonial Revival style. Originally housed the hospital's chapel, cafeteria, and gymnasium. Designed by John F. O'Malley of Pawtucket. Used until recently as a homeless shelter.

A long Colonial Revival building, built to house a hospital. It was designed by the firm of Barker & Turoff, of Providence. It is located directly west of the Reception Hospital, the institution's first building.

A two-story Colonial Revival building on a high basement. Like its neighbor, the Welcome Arnold Building, it was designed by Oresto Disaia. Unlike its neighbor, it has had some of its detailing altered, making the two no longer identical.

This is one of the largest buildings on the hospital campus. It stands three and four stories tall, gable-roofed, with a substantial clock tower. Like most of the area's buildings, it is in the Colonial Revival style. The architect was Edward O. Ekman, of Providence.

A group of three Colonial Revival houses that would not look out of place in an early suburb. There were once two more of these houses, on the south side of the street, which have been demolished. The architects of these houses are unknown at this time.

A large Colonial Revival building. Built concurrently with neighboring Elizabeth Barry Hall, which is identical, though designed by a different architect. Simpson was designed by Howe & Church, of Providence.

A two-story Colonial Revival building on a high basement. Like its neighbor, the Jonathan Arnold Building, it was designed by Oresto Disaia. Unlike its neighbor, it remains unaltered, making the two no longer identical. The building is currently vacant.

A two-story, flat-roofed building. Nominally Colonial Revival in style. This is one of the three original buildings of the Hospital, built by the PWA in 1936.

The PWA built this equipment building on the State Infirmary Hospital campus.

A three-story, Colonial Revival building built by the PWA in 1936. Like its neighbor, the Bernadette Building, the McDonald Building houses part of the women's prison.