Chimborazo Hospital

Chimborazo Hospital. Richmond National Battlefield Park. , On this 40-acre plateau the Confederates built Chimborazo Hospital, one of the largest and best-known Civil War military hospitals: 78,000 sick and wounded Confederate soldiers passed through the hospital from 1861-1865. Chimborazo’s neat rows of buildings enhanced ventilation and served as a model for many postwar hospitals. None of Chimborazo's 150 wooden structures exists today., The large building before you was constructed in 1909 as a Federal weather station. It houses the Chimborazo Medical Museum, which tells the story of both the Confederate medical service and the dozens of Richmond’s other wartime hospitals., “The buildings were separated from each other by wide alleys or streets, ample spaces for drives or walks, and a wide street around entire camp or hospital. The hospital presented the appearance of a large town, imposing and attractive, with its alignments of buildings kept whitened with lime, streets and alleys clean, and with its situation on such an elevated point it commanded a grand, magnificent and pleasing view….” Dr. John R. Gildersleeve