Downtown Harrisburg in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Harrisburg Hospital

Photographed by William Pfingsten, March 21, 2008

1. Harrisburg Hospital Marker

Inscription. Harrisburg Hospital, the city's first public hospital, opened in the former South Ward School building in 1873, beginning a course that today makes Harrisburg a major health and research center. The school faced Mulberry Street (now vacated) which paralleled the Cumberland Valley Railroad line allowing emergency access for the infirmed who traveled there by rail. The first main hospital building, which was added to the west side of the school and faced S. Front Street, was completed in 1884. Over the following century, the hospital grew through the consolidation of land and the vacating of adjacent streets and alleys, until it consumed essentially all of the real estate between Front and Second Streets and south from Chestnut Street to Mary Street. The 1884 Queen Anne-styled original hospital building, through dwarfed by its newer surroundings, managed to survive until 1976 when it was demolished for the new main entrance facilities and access area to this now nationally-acclaimed medical complex, that is the flagship of Pinnacle Health System, its owner.
Top Photo
The original Harrisburg Hospital building survived until 1976. Note the South Ward School to the rear in which the hospital was first established.
Bottom Photo
This 1920 postcard view looking east from Riverfront Park shows early growth of hospital complex.

Erected by The

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

Harrisburg History Project Commissioned by Mayor Stephen R. Reed.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Charity & Public Work • Education • Notable Buildings • Science & Medicine. In addition, it is included in the Pennsylvania, The Harrisburg History Project series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1873.

Location. 40° 15.409′ N, 76° 52.812′ W. Marker is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in Dauphin County. It is in Downtown Harrisburg. It is on South Front Street, on the right when traveling south. Between Mary and Chestnut Streets. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 200 S Front St, Harrisburg PA 17101, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South-Central Pennsylvania, specifically in Pennsylvania Dutch Country,

and in the Susquehanna Valley.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy

and also one

Part of Harrisburg Hospital Complex image. Click for full size.

Photographed by William Pfingsten, March 21, 2008

2. Part of Harrisburg Hospital Complex

of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge (within shouting distance of this marker); John Harris, Sr. (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Native Nations of the Susquehanna Valley (about 400 feet away); a different marker also named Native Nations of the Susquehanna Valley (about 400 feet away); John Harris, Sr., and the Mulberry Tree (about 400 feet away); The Court House Bell (about 400 feet away); In Memory of John Harris (about 400 feet away); a different marker also named John Harris (about 400 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Harrisburg.

<i>City Hospital, Harrisburg, Pa.</i> image. Click for full size.

circa 1905

3. City Hospital, Harrisburg, Pa.

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on March 25, 2008, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. This page has been viewed 4,040 times since then and 134 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 25, 2008, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. 3. submitted on November 6, 2015.