List of U.S. Marine Hospitals

This is a list of U.S. Marine Hospitals and Public Health Service Hospitals that operated during the system's existence from 1798 to 1981. The primary beneficiary of the hospitals were civilian mariners known as the Merchant Marine, although they had other beneficiaries at various times; the system was unrelated to the United States Marine Corps.

The Marine Hospital Fund was founded in 1798; it was reorganized into the Marine Hospital Service in 1871 and renamed the United States Public Health Service in 1912. The hospital system became part of the Public Health Service's Bureau of Medical Services when it was created in 1943. The number of major hospitals peaked at thirty in 1943, and declined to nine in 1970. The system was abolished in 1981. Many of the hospitals were transferred to other organizations and are still in use as a variety of purposes, including as hospitals, offices, apartments, and historical sites.

History

The Marine Hospital Fund was founded in 1798, when John Adams signed into law, An Act for the relief of sick and disabled seamen. Although the system was funded and largely operated by the federal government, they were locally managed with little centralized oversight, and with many positions filled through political patronage. In 1871, it was reorganized into a centralized administration, the Marine Hospital Service, led by the Surgeon General and staffed by a Commissioned Corps of officers.

As of 1873, 31 Marine Hospitals had been built by the government, of which 10 remained in operation: Chelsea, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Louisville, Mobile, Pittsburgh, Portland, St. Louis, and Key West. Of the rest, fourteen were sold, one was transferred to the War Department, one abandoned, one burned, one destroyed by a flood, one by a hurricane, one was damaged by an earthquake and abandoned; one remained unfinished due to its completion being impracticable.

Over the late nineteenth century, the Marine Hospital Service was given authority over domestic and foreign quarantine functions, and expanded into other public health activities. In 1899 it formed internal divisions for the first time, with the Division of Hospitals administering the hospital system. The Marine Hospital Service changed its name to the Public Health Service (PHS) in 1912.

At the end of World War I, PHS instituted a numbering system for hospitals, with numbers 1–23 assigned alphabetically to major Marine Hospitals that were operating or recently closed, with higher numbers going to a large number of new Public Health Service Hospitals at facilities transferred from the U.S. Army. Many of these new hospitals were transferred in 1922 to the newly created Veterans Bureau, which assumed responsibility for veterans' health benefits from the PHS.

Beginning in the late 1920s and continuing through the New Deal era, a significant building campaign upgraded several hospitals into large, monumental buildings, in contrast with the smaller buildings common for the 19th-century buildings. By 1936, hospitals were divided into first-class Marine Hospitals, plus second- through fourth-class hospitals.

In 1943, PHS collected its divisions into three operating agencies, and the Division of Hospitals became part of the Bureau of Medical Services. Alt URL That year, the hospital system had reached its peak of 30 hospitals. In 1951, all hospitals were redesignated Public Health Service Hospitals. As of 1957, the Division of Hospitals operated 13 hospitals, 24 outpatient clinics, plus two neuropsychiatric hospitals and the National Leprosarium, and contracted with 155 other locations. In 1965, there were 12 general hospitals and the 3 special hospitals.

During the PHS reorganizations of 1966–1973, The Bureau of Medical Services was broken up, and the Division of Hospitals became the Federal Health Programs Service, and then in 1973 became a different Bureau of Medical Services within the Health Services Administration.

The system came under pressure for closure starting in the late 1970s, as healthcare needs for sailors were dwindling, and healthcare for veterans was being taken over by the Veterans Administration. The PHS hospital system was finally abolished during the Reagan administration in 1981, with the last eight general hospitals transferred to other organizations. The federal government would however continue to operate the National Leprosarium until 1999.

List The start year indicates when the hospital opened or was acquired by MHS/PHS. The end year indicates when the hospital was closed, converted to a clinic, or transferred to another organization. This list emphasizes hospitals considered major at some point in the system's history; there were also very many hospitals of lower statuses. +PhotoLocation(link to hospital)StartEndStatusNotesRefs East Coast Portland, Maine18591952ExtantIn use as private medical facilityBoston / Chelsea, Massachusetts18001804The first Marine Hospital established; temporary location in rebuilt barracks at Castle Island18041825DemolishedAt Charlestown Navy Yard; transferred to the Navy and demolished18251827Temporary rented facility in Charlestown18271857DestroyedIn Chelsea; after being sold, it was used as the Hawthorne School and then burned in the 1908 Chelsea fire.18571940ExtantBuilt near Chelsea Naval Hospital; in use as apartments19401981ExtantIn Brighton; in use as private hospital facilityVineyard Haven, Massachusetts18791952ExtantIn use as Martha's Vineyard MuseumNewport, Rhode Islandca. 1802May have been temporaryStapleton, Staten Island, New York18311981ExtantNotable for the 1858 Staten Island Quarantine War at a satellite location, and being the birthplace of the National Institutes of Health in 1887Top 100 Historical Events in Staten Island, Richmond County, NY, from the Staten Island Advance.1930s1981ExtantIn use as Bayley Seton HospitalNeponsit, Queens, New York19451950DemolishedLeased from City of New York and replaced by Manhattan Beach hospital; demolished in 2023Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York19411960Shut down and sold off by USCGEllis Island, New York19021951ExtantEllis Island Immigrant HospitalCape Henlopen, Delaware18941903Baltimore, Maryland18871934DemolishedDemolished for construction of 1934 building on same site19341981ExtantBecame a private hospital, now an academic building for Johns Hopkins University named Wyman Park BuildingWashington, D.C.19401961–1967ExtantFreedmen's Hospital; previously operated by Department of the Interior; became Howard University HospitalWashington, D.C.19401968ExtantSt. Elizabeths Hospital. Opened 1855 and was operated by the U.S. Army and then the Department of the Interior, transferred to PHS in 1940, and then to the National Institute of Mental Health in 1968; the eastern half of the campus is now operated by the District of Columbia, while the western half is now the headquarters of the Department of Homeland SecurityNorfolk, Virginia18001860sDemolishedBuilt in 1787 by the State of Virginia, transferred to the federal government in 1800, sold off shortly after the Civil War, demolished in 1933 19221981ExtantIn use as U.S. Navy Lafeyette River AnnexPortsmouth, North Carolina1847Abandoned before 1869Wilmington, North Carolina18811898Constructed in 1860 but taken over by the Confederacy, and later became first site of Wilmington City Hospital; repurchased and used as Marine Hospital18981918Converted to PHS laboratoryCharleston, South Carolina1833ExtantNRHP-listed and  Savannah, Georgia19061969ExtantIn use as Bradley Hall of Savannah College of Art and DesignSan Juan, Puerto Rico1952 Gulf Coast Key West, Florida18451943ExtantSt. Marks, Florida1859ca. 1861DemolishedState park museum currently exists on its sitePensacola, FloridaFirst planned in 1840s and 1850s but never builtMobile, Alabama18431952ExtantDemoted to Class II hospital after Civil War; NRHP-listedNew Orleans, Louisiana18471858DestroyedAbandoned after floods; destroyed in 1861 explosionN/AN/ADemolishedBuilding partially constructed but never used as Marine Hospital; later used as insane asylum; hospital operated out of several temporary locations18831933DemolishedDemolished and replaced with current building on same site19331981Extantpart of NRHP-listed Uptown New Orleans Historic DistrictGalveston, Texas / Nassau Bay, Texas1931ExtantNow in use as apartments1970s1981ExtantNassau Bay hospital opened in 1972 as a private hospital, but went bankrupt a few years later and was taken over by PHS, replacing the Galveston hospital; became Houston Methodist Clear Lake HospitalFort Worth, Texas19381967ExtantNarcotics hospital; now a federal prison Mississippi River Carville, Louisiana19211999ExtantNational Leprosarium; NRHP-listedNatchez, Mississippi18521867DestroyedLeased out after Civil War; became Natchez City Hospital; burned down in 1984Vicksburg, Mississippi18561870DemolishedNapoleon, Arkansas1855ca. 1861DestroyedDestroyed by flood in 1868Memphis, Tennessee18841965ExtantNRHP-listed; now Metal Museum19371965ExtantSt. Louis / Kirkwood, Missouri18581939DemolishedLarger building constructed adjacent in 1882; demolished in 195919391952DemolishedCairo, Illinois18861919DemolishedGalena, Illinois18611868ExtantLater used as school and private residenceBurlington, Iowa18581865Demolished Ohio River Paducah, Kentucky18521861DestroyedDuring the Civil War, Fort Anderson was constructed around the hospital building, which burned in 1862Evansville, Indiana18561867DemolishedDemolished around 191218921947DemolishedDemolished early 1980sLouisville, Kentucky18521946ExtantNRHP-listed19331946ExtantCincinnati, Ohio18601860DemolishedBecame a military hospital upon completion and was never used as a Marine Hospital, later used by Good Samaritan Hospital; demolished ca. 197018821905DemolishedLocated in former Kilgour Mansion, built around 1815; in 1912 it was reopened as PHS Stream Pollution Investigations StationLexington, Kentucky19351967ExtantNarcotics hospital; now a federal prisonPittsburgh, Pennsylvania18511875DemolishedDemolished in late 1880s19091949ExtantConverted to clinic, now occupied by Allegheny County Health Department's Frank B. Clack Health Center; part of NRHP-listed Lawrenceville Historic District Great Lakes Burlington, Vermont18581866DestroyedNever used due to lack of patients; became Home for Destitute Children; burned down in 1893Buffalo, New York19091949ExtantCleveland, Ohio18521929DemolishedSold to Pennsylvania Railroad in 1929 and demolished19291953ExtantBecame the Fairhill Mental Health CenterDetroit, Michigan18571930DemolishedMain building demolished in 1962; unrelated 1933 building on site NRHP-listed as U.S. Immigration Station Detroit19301969DemolishedDemolished in 1984Chicago, Illinois18521864DestroyedAt Fort Dearborn; sold; burned down in 1871 Great Chicago Fire18731965DemolishedDemolished for Disney Magnet School Western U.S. Port Townsend/Port Angeles, Washington18551858Privately built and operated18581893DestroyedOriginally privately built and operated under contract; purchased by government in 1883; burned down18621866DestroyedRelocated to Port Angeles; destroyed by flood and restored to Port Townsend18961933DemolishedDemolished in 1971 Seattle, Washington19331981ExtantReplaced Port Townsend hospital; transferred to City of Seattle and became Pacific TowerSan Francisco, California18541868DemolishedAt Rincon Point; damaged by the 1868 Hayward earthquake and temporarily abandoned; later used as Sailor's Home and demolished in 1920s Presidio of San Francisco - Public Health Service Hospital (U.S. National Park Service)(archived version at the Wayback Machine, 2007)18751932On the Presidio of San Francisco19321981ExtantOn the Presidio of San Francisco; reopened as apartments in 2010Fort Stanton, New Mexico18981953ExtantTuberculosis sanatorium; created from former Fort Stanton; NRHP-listedLahaina, Hawaii18441862DestroyedCollapsed due to neglect in the 1970s, restored in 1982, interior destroyed in the 2023 Hawaii wildfires