Gainsboro in Roanoke, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Burrell Memorial Hospital
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), April 24, 2021
1. Burrell Memorial Hospital Marker
Inscription.
Burrell Memorial Hospital. . Five African American physicians opened Burrell Memorial Hospital in a house at 311 Henry St. in March 1915. They named it in honor of their colleague Dr. Isaac D. Burrell, who had died in 1914 after traveling by train to undergo surgery in Washington, D.C., as local hospitals treated only whites. Burrell Memorial, which became the region's largest medical facility for black patients, moved into a former school on this site in 1921 and occupied a new building here in 1955. The hospital's nursing school prepared African Americans for careers as registered nurses before closing in the 1930s. A school for practical nurses opened here in the 1950s. Burrell Memorial Hospital closed in 1978.
Five African American physicians opened Burrell Memorial Hospital in a house at 311 Henry St. in March 1915. They named it in honor of their colleague Dr. Isaac D. Burrell, who had died in 1914 after traveling by train to undergo surgery in Washington, D.C., as local hospitals treated only whites. Burrell Memorial, which became the region's largest medical facility for black patients, moved into a former school on this site in 1921 and occupied a new building here in 1955. The hospital's nursing school prepared African Americans for careers as registered nurses before closing in the 1930s. A school for practical nurses opened here in the 1950s. Burrell Memorial Hospital closed in 1978.
Erected 2020 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number K-128.)
Location. 37° 16.916′ N, 79° 56.951′ W. Marker is in Roanoke, Virginia. It is in
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Gainsboro. It is on McDowell Avenue Northwest just west of 6th Street Northwest, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 608 McDowell Ave NW, Roanoke VA 24016, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Mountain Region and in Southwest Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 1, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 30, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 687 times since then and 74 times this year. Last updated on May 1, 2021, by Bradley Owen of Morgantown, West Virginia. Photos:1, 2. submitted on April 30, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
