St. Elizabeths Hospital, Allison A, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast 518-542 Redwood Drive, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

For an overview of the Allison Group, see HABS DC-349-BW

Significance: Allison A (Building 25) is significant for its association with the care of Civil War and other military veterans and the treatment of mental illness at the St. Elizabeths Campus. St. Elizabeths Hospital was established in 1852 as a curative treatment center for the mentally ill of Washington, D.C., and the United States Army and Navy through the efforts of Dorothea Lynde Dix, a national crusader for the ethical and humane treatment of the mentally ill. Following the Civil War, St. Elizabeths was expanded to accommodate the needs of aging and mentally challenged Civil War veterans. Constructed in 1899, Allison A was part of a group of four pavilions/cottages constructed around a small courtyard and connected by deep porches. It reflects the divergence from the original Kirkbride plan for housing patients within a single building segregated by ailment, to the creation of small free-standing cottages intended to promote a healthier environment and facilitate the orderly separation of patient groups. Allison A combined with Allison C, D, and B as the last of five clusters built between 1878 and 1899 to house an aging population of white male Civil War veterans.

Allison A is also significant for its architectural design. Allison A is a three-story, brick structure with basement. When constructed, the Italianate structure had a corbelled brick cornice, slate hip roof with central vent hood, and multi-light double-hung windows with concrete sills and brick relieving arches. Three-story, wood-framed, porches with wood guardrails and brick foundation piers were attached to the north and south facade. Doorways were centered on the north facade at each floor level to provide access to the north porch with the main entrance being an arched opening with transom and sidelights. The Allison group forms a quadrant with a center courtyard, with Allison B on the west, Allison C on the east, Allison A is on the north, and Allison D, the largest of the building group, on the south. The buildings are connected with wood porches. Allison A was the entrance building for the complex, thus the building affronted the street and housed office and reception rooms for visitors and staff.

Survey number: HABS DC-349-AN

Building/structure dates: 1899 Initial Construction

National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79003101

hospitals medicine institutional care mental institutions health care health care facilities war civil war brick buildings italianate architectural elements hip roofs namrata barbhaiya ita ekanem mike ford william godding government hospital for the insane historic american buildings survey kenneth itle tim penich leslie schwartz scott schwartz deborah slaton us department of health and human services education us department of health us department of the interior us federal security agency us general services administration us national institute of mental health photo elizabeths hospital martin luther redwood drive american civil war civil war us navy washington dc state war and navy building library of congress national register of historic places historic landmarks

1933 - 1970

Library of Congress

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