There are currently three medical schools in the District of Columbia, associated with George Washington University, Georgetown University, and Howard University. All of them date from the 19th century. In addition, there were two veterinary schools: US College of Veterinary Surgeons and National Veterinary College.

Before the Civil War, hospital facilities were limited. Washington Infirmary served as the teaching and general hospital in the city; Washington Asylum, housing the indigent patients, eventually became the District of Columbia General Hospital; and the Government Hospital for the Insane of the Army and Navy, established in 1855, later changed its name to Saint Elizabeths Hospital.

During the Civil War, Washington turned into a hospital city. At the beginning, the military used federal facilities, churches, large houses and other buildings to care for wounded soldiers. Among such places were United States Capitol and Patent Office Building. As the war casualties mounted, the city with a population of 75,000 was forced to house as many as 50,000 patients. The government established 25 military hospitals in the city and neighboring counties. Two of these facilities, Lincoln General Hospital and Armory Square Hospital are featured on this Web Tour. It is said that at the peak of the Civil War, the Washington, DC area included as many as 85 hospitals.

Shortly after the Civil War, the government established Columbia Hospital for Women to provide health care for women coming into the city to look for missing and wounded relatives. After serving the Washington, DC area for 136 years, the Columbia closed in 2002. Also after the Civil War, the Navy authorized the construction of a new hospital on Capitol Hill, which moved to a new facility near the Lincoln Memorial at the turn of the century. The Naval Hospital in downtown Washington was the forerunner of the Bethesda Naval Hospital. The Walter Reed Hospital also dates from the early 20th century.

Another outcome of the Civil War was the Army Medical Museum and Library. First housed in Ford's Theatre, it ultimately occupied its own building on the National Mall, next to the Smithsonian. The Army Medical Museum evolved into Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and National Museum of Health and Medicine, and the Library was transferred to the Public Health Service, eventually becoming the National Library of Medicine.

In addition, the Web tour covers several museums: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Civil War Medicine, Clara Barton National Historical Site, Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum, and Stetten Museum of Medical Research at the NIH campus. Also included are two memorials for Samuel Hahnemann and Benjamin Rush, as well as the Arlington National Cemetery.

Historic Medical Sites in the Washington, DC Area is intended as a Web tour of important medical landmarks in the area. Although the tour is limited to 30 sites, the list is by no means exhaustive. Health-care organizations, other hospitals with long history in patient care, and houses of prominent physicians and biomedical researchers have been left out because of time considerations. The entries have been numbered consecutively, based on a route which seemed reasonable to follow. We begin the tour with the United States Capitol (#1) and end at the National Museum of Civil War Medicine (#30) in Frederick, MD. A Downtown Map and an Area Map are provided to enhance the usefulness of the program. Of the 30 facilities and buildings featured here, six are no longer extant. They are designated as "Site of..." and marked as being non-existing, just below the line showing the nearest Metro station.

Enjoy the Web Tour!

Inci A. Bowman, Ph.D.