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.

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.

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.







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.
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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.
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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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As of Oct 2021 it looks like it’s been renovated into apartments and is now called The Marine Residence Apartments. Wish I could’ve seen it before it was renovated!
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It is nice to see it finally renovated.
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