Back St. Elizabeths Hospital French St. Elizabeths Hospital NB St. Elizabeths Hospital Portuguese Больница святой Елизаветы Russian St. Elizabeths Hospital SIMPLE 圣伊丽莎白医院 Chinese
| St. Elizabeths Hospital | |
|---|---|
| District of Columbia | |
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 An early 20th century photo of the Center Building at St. Elizabeths, one of the oldest structures on the hospital campus | |
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| Geography | |
| Location | 1100 Alabama Avenue, Southeast, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Organisation | |
| Funding | Public hospital |
| Type | Specialist |
| Services | |
| Specialty | Psychiatric |
| Public transit access |  Congress Heights |
| History | |
| Construction started | August 1852 |
| Opened | October 1855 |
| Links | |
| Website | sehcommunity.org |
| Lists | Hospitals in U.S. |
St. Elizabeths Hospital | |
 Aerial view of the West Campus in 2015 | |
    | |
| Location | 2700 and 2701 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. SE, 1100 Alabama Avenue SE Washington, D.C.[1] |
| Coordinates | 38°51′03″N 76°59′40″W / 38.85083°N 76.99444°W |
| Area | 346 acres (140 ha) |
| Built | 1852 |
| Architect | Thomas U. Walter; Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge |
| Architectural style | Italianate Revival, Italian Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 79003101 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 26, 1979[2] |
| Designated NHLD | December 14, 1990[3] |
St. Elizabeths Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Southeast Washington, D.C. operated by the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. The hospital opened in 1855 under the name Government Hospital for the Insane,[4] the first federally operated psychiatric hospital in the United States.
Housing over 8,000 patients at its peak in the 1950s, the hospital had a fully functioning medical-surgical unit, a school of nursing, accredited internships and psychiatric residencies.[5] Its campus was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990.[3]
Since 2010, the hospital's functions have been limited to the portion of the East Campus operated by the District of Columbia Department of Mental Health. The remainder of the East Campus is slated for redevelopment by the District of Columbia. The West Campus was transferred to the United States Department of Homeland Security for its headquarters and its subsidiary agencies.[6] The Douglas A. Munro Coast Guard Headquarters Building, with hundreds of Coast Guard personnel, is a joint tenant of the campus.
The campus grounds contain the Saint Elizabeths Hospital East and West Cemeteries. Burials were performed on the West Campus beginning in 1856. Approximately 450 graves of Civil War veterans and an unknown number of civilians are buried on the West Campus. In 1873, the three-quarter-acre West Campus burying ground was deemed full, and a new cemetery was opened on the East Campus. Approximately 2,050 military and 3,000 civilian interments occurred on the nine-acre cemetery on the East Campus over the next 120 years.
The hospital was under the control of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services until 1987. At that time, ownership of its East Campus was transferred by the federal government to the District of Columbia.[7]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
DCDeptHealthwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ a b "St. Elizabeths Hospital". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on February 9, 2008. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
- ^ "St. Elizabeths: A History" (PDF).
- ^ Cauvin, Henri E. (April 23, 2010). "D.C. celebrates building opening at St. Elizabeths". The Washington Post.
- ^ Markon, Jerry (May 20, 2014). "Planned Homeland Security headquarters, long-delayed and over budget, now in doubt. Washington Post, p B1, 20 May 2014". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 17, 2014.
- ^ "History of St. Elizabeths – GSA Development of St. Elizabeths Campus". www.stelizabethsdevelopment.com. Retrieved July 26, 2019.