Park View, D.C.

(The Washington Hospital Center property during the Civil War and today)

During the Civil War, William W. Corcoran’s 191 acre country estate became one of many locations used as hospitals tending to the War’s wounded and was alongside President Lincoln’s commute route between the Soldiers’ Home and the city of Washington. The Harewood hospital consisted of makeshift frame wards and tents. Its period of service was from September, 1862, to May, 1866, under the successive charge of Surgeon F.E. Mitchell, 1^st Maryland; Dr. Thomas Antisell and Dr. Robert E. Bontecon. The image here shows Harewood from the South. The Soldiers’ Home can be seen in the distance and Corcoran’s farm buildings to the immediate northwest of the hospital.

Today’s Washington Hospital Center — which includes Children’s National Medial Center, National Rehabilitation Hospital, and the Veterans Affairs Medial Center — is located roughly in the same area. The Washington Hospital Center was begun in 1953 and triggered the eventual closing of the old Soldiers’ Home to public use.

This entry was posted on August 13, 2010 at 7:01 am and is filed under History. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Civil War, historic comparison, history and culture, hospitals, Old Soldiers' Home, Park View