Virginia Military Institute Hospital snapshot and copy print photos, 1870/1910

Containers:

Box 11, Folder 39

Scope and content:

The photos in this folder are as follows:

Two circa 1870 photos by Miley, Lexington, Virginia, copy print photos, one showing the old VMI hospital and the mess hall to the right of it.

A circa 1910 snapshot photo of the current VMI hospital.

Biographical / historical:

The original old hospital was built in 1848-1849 in response to a severe 1845 typhoid fever epidemic, to safely quarantine and treat sick cadets, which was located on the west side of the parade ground. The current Post Hospital building was built in the 1850s. It is the oldest remaining building on the VMI Post and the only one to survive both the Lexington Arsenal era and the structural burning of the campus during the Civil War. It served as the official hospital until 1870. Today, the structure houses the VMI Office of International Programs and the Institute Chaplain's offices.

The current Virginia Military Insitute (VMI) Post Hospital was built in the 1850s and acquired in 1870. It was built by master craftsman John Jordan as a Greek Revival style private home for his son, Samuel F. Jordan. VMI purchased the residence in 1870. It initially housed the post doctor before being converted into the new campus hospital. Major medical wards were appended to the western and northeastern sides of the building in 1909. The facility has since undergone several historical preservation and system upgrades to accommodate the student body.

Other descriptive data:

The building standing southwest to the left of the hospital is the Science building, which was later dedicated as Carroll Hall in 1980.

Access and use