Life on Dix Hill

Life on Dix Hill. . A Thriving Community, The people living and working on the hospital campus, commonly called "Dix Hill," built a self-suffcient community largely separate from the city of Raleigh. The hospital campus had its own water supply, a farm that supplied nearly all the food the hospital community consumed, a kitchen, a bakery, a smokehouse, an icehouse and boilers to heat buildings with steam. As part of their occupational therapy, female patients made many linens and clothes and male patients assisted with farming and maintaining the grounds and gardens., As the patient population grew, so did the number of staff. Many hospital staff members were provided housing on the grounds, resulting in a close-knit community. In the 1910s and '20s, dorms were built to house nurses. The three stone houses at the main entrance were built in the 1920s for the hospital superintendent and his family, the head physician, and the gatekeeper. From the 1930s to the 1950s, small brick and wood-frame houses were built to house employees at all levels. Generations of families were born, lived and worked on Dix Hill, fostering a deep connection to the hospital, its grounds, and its legacy., A Place of Peace, As many hospitals do today, Dorothea Dix Hospital had a nondenominational chapel for use by patients, staff, and visitors. In 1954, the hospital commissioned Salisbury, NC architect John Erwin Ramsay to desigl and build a new chapel , All Faiths Chapel, which was dedicated in 1956 for the hospital's centennial. The chapel held worship services, weddings, funerals and other gatherings for patients and staff. It was a place of peace and comfort for many who worked and lived on Dix Hill., Using private donations, Dix Park Conservancy began renovations of the All Faiths Chapel in 2020. The chapel is now Original chapel design renderings by John E. Ramsey Sr. c.1954 named in honor of Gregory Poole Jr., who tirelessly advocated that the state hospital site be preserved as a public park. Today the Greg Poole, Jr. All Faiths Chapel is a welcoming center and community gathering space.