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 U.S. Marine Corps.
The Marine Hospital Fund was founded in 1798;[1] it was reorganized into the Marine Hospital Service in 1871 and renamed the U.S. 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.
The Marine Hospital Fund was founded in 1798. 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.[2]
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.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5] 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.[6] That year, the hospital system had reached its peak of 30 hospitals.[7] 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.[8] In 1965, there were 12 general hospitals and the 3 special hospitals.[9]
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.[10]
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.[11] The federal government would however continue to operate the National Leprosarium until 1999.
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.[12]
East Coast | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland, Maine | 1859 | 1952 | Extant | In use as private medical facility; see United States Marine Hospital (Portland, Maine) | [13] [14] [15] | ||
| Boston, Massachusetts/ Chelsea, Massachusetts | 1800 | 1804 | The first Marine Hospital established; temporary location in rebuilt barracks at Castle Island | [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] | |||
| 1804 | 1825 | Demolished | At Charlestown Navy Yard; transferred to the Navy and demolished | ||||
| 1825 | 1827 | Temporary rented facility in Charlestown | |||||
| 1827 | 1857 | Destroyed | In Chelsea; after being sold, it was used as the Hawthorne School and then burned in the 1908 Chelsea fire. | ||||
| 1857 | 1940 | Extant | Built near Chelsea Naval Hospital; in use as apartments | ||||
| 1940 | 1981 | Extant | In Brighton; in use as private hospital facility | ||||
| Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts | 1879 | 1952 | Extant | In use as Martha's Vineyard Museum | [21] | ||
| Newport, Rhode Island | ca. 1802 | May have been temporary | [22] | ||||
| Stapleton, Staten Island, New York | 1831 | 1981 | Extant | Notable for the 1858 Staten Island Quarantine War at a satellite location, and being the birthplace of the National Institutes of Health in 1887 | [23] [24] | ||
| 1930s | 1981 | Extant | In use as Bayley Seton Hospital | ||||
| Neponsit, Queens, New York | 1945 | 1950 | Extant | Neponsit Beach Hospital
| |||
| Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York | 1950 | 1960 | [25] | ||||
| Ellis Island, New York | 1902 | 1951 | Extant | See Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital | |||
| Cape Henlopen, Delaware | 1894 | 1903 | |||||
| Baltimore, Maryland | 1887 | 1981 | Extant | [26] | |||
| 1934 | 1981 | Extant | Became a private hospital, now in use as an academic building for Johns Hopkins University | ||||
| Washington, D.C. | 1940 | 1961– 1967 | Extant | Freedmen's Hospital; previously operated by Department of the Interior; became Howard University Hospital | [27] [28] | ||
| Washington, D.C. | 1940 | 1968 | Extant | See St. 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 Security | [29] | ||
| Norfolk, Virginia | 1800 | 1860s | Demolished | Built in 1787 by the State of Virginia, transferred to the federal government in 1800, sold off shortly after the Civil War, demolished in 1933 | [30] [31] | ||
| 1922 | 1981 | Extant | In use as U.S. Navy Lafeyette River Annex | ||||
| Portsmouth, North Carolina | 1847 | Abandoned before 1869 | [32] | ||||
| Wilmington, North Carolina | 1881 | 1898 | Constructed in 1860 but taken over by the Confederacy, and later became first site of Wilmington City Hospital; repurchased and used as Marine Hospital | [33] [34] | |||
| 1898 | 1918 | Converted to PHS laboratory | |||||
| Charleston, South Carolina | 1833 | Extant | NRHP-listed. See United States Marine Hospital (Charleston, South Carolina) | [35] | |||
| Savannah, Georgia | 1906 | 1969 | Extant | In use as Bradley Hall of Savannah College of Art and Design | |||
| San Juan, Puerto Rico | 1952 | ||||||
Gulf Coast | |||||||
| Key West, Florida | 1845 | 1943 | Extant | [36] | |||
| St. Marks, Florida | 1859 | ca. 1861 | Demolished | Museum currently exists on its site at San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park | |||
| Pensacola, Florida | First planned in 1840s and 1850s but never built | ||||||
| Mobile, Alabama | 1843 | 1952 | Extant | Became Class II hospital after Civil War; NRHP-listed. See United States Marine Hospital (Mobile, Alabama) | |||
| New Orleans, Louisiana | 1847 | 1858 | Destroyed | Abandoned after floods; destroyed in 1861 explosion | [37] | ||
| N/A | N/A | Demolished | Building partially constructed but never used as Marine Hospital; later used as insane asylum; hospital operated out of several temporary locations | ||||
| 1883 | 1933 | Demolished | Demolished and replaced with current building on same site | ||||
| 1933 | 1981 | Extant | |||||
| Galveston, Texas/ Nassau Bay, Texas | 1931 | [38] [39] [40] | |||||
| 1970s | 1981 | Extant | Nassau 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 Hospital | ||||
| Fort Worth, Texas | 1938 | 1967 | Extant | Narcotics hospital; now Federal Medical Center, Fort Worth | |||
Mississippi River | |||||||
| Carville, Louisiana | 1921 | 1999 | Extant | National Leprosarium; became NRHP-listed Carville Historic District | [41] | ||
| Natchez, Mississippi | 1852 | 1867 | Destroyed | Leased out after Civil War; became Natchez City Hospital; burned down in 1984 | |||
| Vicksburg, Mississippi | 1856 | 1870 | Demolished | ||||
| Napoleon, Arkansas | 1855 | ca. 1861 | Destroyed | Destroyed by flood in 1868. See Napoleon Marine Hospital | |||
| Memphis, Tennessee | 1884 | 1965 | Extant | NRHP-listed; now Metal Museum | [42] [43] | ||
| 1937 | 1965 | Extant | |||||
| St. Louis, Missouri/ Kirkwood, Missouri | 1858 | 1939 | Demolished | Larger building constructed adjacent in 1882; demolished in 1959 | [44] [45] | ||
| 1939 | 1952 | Demolished | |||||
| Cairo, Illinois | 1886 | 1919 | Demolished | ||||
| Galena, Illinois | 1861 | 1868 | Extant | Later used as school and private residence | |||
| Burlington, Iowa | 1858 | 1865 | Demolished | ||||
Ohio River | |||||||
| Paducah, Kentucky | 1852 | 1861 | Destroyed | During the Civil War, Fort Anderson was constructed around the hospital building, which burned in 1862 | |||
| Evansville, Indiana | 1856 | 1867 | Demolished | Demolished around 1912 | |||
| 1892 | 1947 | Demolished | Demolished early 1980s | ||||
| Louisville, Kentucky | 1852 | 1946 | Extant | NRHP-listed. See United States Marine Hospital (Louisville, Kentucky) | [46] | ||
| 1933 | 1946 | Extant | |||||
| Cincinnati, Ohio | 1860 | 1860 | Demolished | Became a military hospital upon completion and was never used as a Marine Hospital, later used by Good Samaritan Hospital; demolished ca. 1970. See United States Marine Hospital (Cincinnati) | [47] [48] [49] [50] | ||
| 1882 | 1905 | Demolished | Located in former Kilgour Mansion, built around 1815; in 1912 it was reopened as PHS Stream Pollution Investigations Station. See United States Marine Hospital (Cincinnati) | ||||
| Lexington, Kentucky | 1935 | 1967 | Extant | Narcotics hospital; now Federal Medical Center, Lexington | |||
| Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 1851 | 1875 | Demolished | Demolished in late 1880s | [51] [52] | ||
| 1909 | 1949 | Extant | Converted to clinic, now occupied by Allegheny County Health Department's Frank B. Clack Health Center; part of NRHP-listed Lawrenceville Historic District. See United States Marine Hospital (Pittsburgh) | ||||
Great Lakes | |||||||
| Burlington, Vermont | 1858 | 1866 | Destroyed | Never used due to lack of patients; became Home for Destitute Children; burned down in 1893 | |||
| Buffalo, New York | 1909 | 1949 | Extant | ||||
| Cleveland, Ohio | 1852 | 1929 | Demolished | Sold to Pennsylvania Railroad in 1929 and demolished | [53] [54] | ||
| 1929 | 1953 | ||||||
| Detroit, Michigan | 1857 | 1930 | Demolished | Main building demolished in 1962; 1933 building on site NRHP-listed as U.S. Immigration Station Detroit | [55] [56] | ||
| 1930 | 1969 | Demolished | Demolished in 1984 | ||||
| Chicago, Illinois | 1852 | 1864 | Destroyed | At Fort Dearborn; sold; burned down in 1871 Great Chicago Fire | [57] | ||
| 1873 | 1965 | Demolished | Demolished for Disney Magnet School | ||||
Western U.S. | |||||||
| Port Townsend/Port Angeles, Washington | 1855 | 1858 | Privately built and operated | [58] [59] [60] | |||
| 1858 | 1893 | Destroyed | Originally privately built and operated under contract; purchased by government in 1883; burned down | ||||
| 1862 | 1866 | Destroyed | Relocated to Port Angeles; destroyed by flood and restored to Port Townsend | ||||
| 1896 | 1933 | Demolished | Demolished in 1971 | ||||
| Seattle, Washington | 1933 | 1981 | Extant | Replaced Port Townsend hospital; transferred to City of Seattle and became Pacific Tower | [61] [62] [63] | ||
| San Francisco, California | 1854 | 1868 | Demolished | At Rincon Point; damaged by the 1868 Hayward earthquake and temporarily abandoned; later used as Sailor's Home and demolished in 1920s | [64] [65] | ||
| 1875 | 1932 | On the Presidio of San Francisco | |||||
| 1932 | 1981 | Extant | On the Presidio of San Francisco; reopened as apartments in 2010. See Public Health Service Hospital (San Francisco) | ||||
| Fort Stanton, New Mexico | 1898 | 1953 | Extant | Tuberculosis sanatorium; created from former Fort Stanton; NRHP-listed | |||
| Lahaina, Hawaii | 1844 | 1862 | Destroyed | See United States Marine Hospital (Lahaina, Hawaii) | [66] | ||