The U.S. Marine Hospital dates back over 200 years. In 1798, President Adams established the Marine Hospital Service to care for injured and disabled seaman working on the Mississippi River. The hospital was a precursor to the Public Health Service. The campus was built in 1884 to care for wounded Civil War soldiers and also to conduct scientific research in the hopes of finding a cure for yellow fever. The Marine Hospital is located along the Mississippi River, south of downtown Memphis in the French Fort community. The original campus consisted of six buildings: the stable, two wards, the surgeon’s house, administrative building, and nurses’ quarters.
The original 1884 Nurses’ quarters behind the red brick hospital.
During the 1930s, several Works Progress Administration buildings were built. The administrative building and the nurses’ quarters were moved 300 feet by wagons pulled by mules to make room for the new WPA hospital. The wards and stables were eventually demolished. The administrative building was repurposed as a museum. In 1979, the Marine Hospital was added to the National Register of Historic Places the following year.
A staircase inside the original Nurses’ quarters.
In 1937, the three-story Neo-Classical red brick hospital was completed at the cost of $1 million. The hospital, constructed in Georgian-style, featured a slate roof, limestone columns, and a copper copula.
Each hospital wing consists of a day room, patient rooms, and nurses station. In the rear wing, you will find the operating room, a dental ward, and the soundproof chamber used for hearing tests.Throughout the years, the hospital was used by the Coast Guard, cadets from the state maritime academies, active duty armed forces, Public Health officials, the Army Corps of Engineers, and government employees injured in the line of duty. Most recently by the Army during Desert Storm to house soldiers.The morgue is located in the basement.Lobby HallwayOperating RoomThe hospital closed permanently in 1965 as the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital. The property was split between the museum and the Federal Government. The museum was allowed to lease their half from the City of Memphis for only a $1 a year.The Federal Government retained their portion until 2004 when it was sold to a private buyer. The campus remains private property. The current plan is to convert the hospital into 67 apartments.
Welcome to AbandonedSoutheast.com!
My name is Leland Kent and I have had an interest in abandoned places ever since I was a kid. In 2016, my obsession with the forgotten and abandoned inspired me to create this blog. My goal is to showcase the obscure, sometimes historic, forgotten places I have visited across the Southeast. I hope to preserve the past through documentation and photographs since many of these amazing places are often lost to neglect, demolition, or renovation. I released my first book, Abandoned Birmingham, in July 2018 and it is available worldwide through most major booksellers. My photographs have been featured on CBS Inside Edition, CNN Travel, Houston Chronicle, The Weather Channel, MSN, Yahoo News, NPR, the UK Sun, the Daily Mail, NOLA.com, AL.com, and many others.
You can reach me at AbandonedSoutheast@gmail.com
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How amazing to see that your latest post was about the very hospital my father recuperated in during WWII! what are the odds of that happening? beautiful pictures. They helped me “see” where my father stayed and I could easily imagine the rooms filled with doctors, nurses and patients. thank you so much for highlighting this part of our history!
Wow – I’ve been so inspired by what I’m reading in the company of some great wordsmiths. But this kicks it up a notch. Photojournalism at its finest. Great show, Abandoned – thanks!
I hardly leave comments, but I browsed some of the responses here. I do have a few questions for you if it’s allright. Is it only me or does it appear like some of the remarks come across like they are left by brain dead visitors? 😛 And, if you are writing on additional online social sites, I would like to keep up with anything new you have to post. Could you make a list of the complete urls of your social sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
Normally I don’t read post on blogs, however I wish to say that this write-up very pressured me to try and do so!
Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thanks, very nice post.
I lived in Memphis most of my life and I didn’t know half the history of the hospital. Thank you for that. However, I noticed in all the sites on the Marine Hospital, the Indian Mound in the now Chickasaw Heritage Park across from the hospital is not mentioned. I think that is an interesting part of the hospital since the hospitalized could see it from their windows.
Loved reading this and seeing the pictures. I’ve seen this place a few times from the outside. I’m confused though- You say it housed soldiers during Desert Storm, but that it closed permanently in 1965.
On another note, I was reading today about a plan to turn it into apartments. I like the idea but I don’t know if I want to live somewhere that had a morgue in the basement!
Stunning imagery x
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Thank you!
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How amazing to see that your latest post was about the very hospital my father recuperated in during WWII! what are the odds of that happening? beautiful pictures. They helped me “see” where my father stayed and I could easily imagine the rooms filled with doctors, nurses and patients. thank you so much for highlighting this part of our history!
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That’s amazing! Thank you for stopping by and sharing.
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Wow – I’ve been so inspired by what I’m reading in the company of some great wordsmiths. But this kicks it up a notch. Photojournalism at its finest. Great show, Abandoned – thanks!
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Thanks for sharing.
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Definitely agree with askriverbed above – you are a brilliant photojournalist – I am really enjoying going through your posts!
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Was there water damage to the inside? I wonder why the walls are peeling so badly?
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Humidity
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I really can’t believe how great this site is. Keep up the good work. I’m going to tell all my friends about this place.
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I hardly leave comments, but I browsed some of the responses here. I do have a few questions for you if it’s allright. Is it only me or does it appear like some of the remarks come across like they are left by brain dead visitors? 😛 And, if you are writing on additional online social sites, I would like to keep up with anything new you have to post. Could you make a list of the complete urls of your social sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
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http://www.facebook.com/AbandonedSoutheast
IG: @abandoned_southeast
Twitter : @AbandonedSE
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Normally I don’t read post on blogs, however I wish to say that this write-up very pressured me to try and do so!
Your writing taste has been amazed me. Thanks, very nice post.
LikeLike
I lived in Memphis most of my life and I didn’t know half the history of the hospital. Thank you for that. However, I noticed in all the sites on the Marine Hospital, the Indian Mound in the now Chickasaw Heritage Park across from the hospital is not mentioned. I think that is an interesting part of the hospital since the hospitalized could see it from their windows.
LikeLike
Loved reading this and seeing the pictures. I’ve seen this place a few times from the outside. I’m confused though- You say it housed soldiers during Desert Storm, but that it closed permanently in 1965.
On another note, I was reading today about a plan to turn it into apartments. I like the idea but I don’t know if I want to live somewhere that had a morgue in the basement!
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I lived on the grounds. My dad was a dentist there in 1954 Would love to see more pictures.
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