The Hospital Reservation Historic District is located between Radio Station and Officers Row Historic Districts and east of the Marine Reservation Historic District of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington, United States. Established in 1909, it reached its maximum development in 1942. The following structures no longer remain: ‘"Main Hospital Building"’ (1911,1924): a Neo-Classical, two story with basement brick complex. "’Recreation building"’ (1920): two story vernacular wood frame structure with basement; to the west was a yard cemetery, which was relocated to the Presidio in San Francisco, California. "’Navy Female Nurse Corps Quarters"’ (1921) was a two-story wood frame structure. "’Three Isolation Buildings"’ (1915) were located of the main hospital. Along with other buildings constructed here, all but one isolation building were eventually connected to the main hospital building. The existing six buildings in the district were the quarters for the Commanding Officer of the Naval Hospital Reservation, the dormitory for the hospital corpsmen, the sick officers quarters, quarters for the medical corps and two separate quarters for pharmacists. These set in a suburban setting of lawn and shrubs with adjacent parking lots. Five of the six buildings are brick construction in a Georgian Revival style. Quarters W (Facility #646) is a wood frame with Neo-Classical influences. The Hospital Reservation Historic District has three non-contributing structures, the utility building for the hospital (Facility #437, 1936), has been significantly altered and the two quarters buildings (#885 and #942) are post World War II.
History
Establishment
The hospital complex was constructed between 1923 and 1942. The buildings were necessary to provide adequate medical care for employees of the navy yard. The first medical service at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard began aboard in 1895. Assistant Surgeon General James Stoughton set up Sick Quarters. Until permanent land side structures were available, the ship provided offices and quarters.
In 1901 a building above Dry Dock No. 1 was started and it opened in 1903 as ‘Sick Quarters’. The two-story frame building had four tents for 16 patients. In March 1903, it was designated a Naval Hospital. The staff was one surgeon and two stewards. During 1907 there were 225 patients. When contagious disease broke out among the industrial workers, the Surgeon General in 1907 sought to move the building away from the work areas. A site atop the western ridge was selected and construction began in 1909. In January 1911, the two-story brick administration building with two wings and housing 200 beds was finished. It took another year before it opened to properly furnish the building. The old hospital building was moved into Bremerton.
World War I era
In 1915 an isolation building was built. During the epidemic of 1918 it was unable to handle the volume of patients. The staff included one medical officer, one nurse, two stewards and 12 American Red Cross nurse volunteers. During the peak of the epidemic, there were four to five deaths a day. During 1918, 89 patients died, 77 of those from the flu.
Inter-war years
By the 1920, the patient load had increased to 1515. Additional buildings were needed to meet the needs. On Nov. 8, 1920, an American Red Cross Hostess House opened that offered a relaxing home-like setting for patient recreation. A frame nurses quarters was added in June 1921. Over the next three years medical officer housing and a commanders quarters were built Commanding Officer of the Hospital Reservation (1923), and quarters for the medical officers (1923), pharmacists (1926), hospital corpsmen (1936) and sick officers (1942). The Quarters were built to insure that the hospital would have the available staff to provide adequate care. Previously, the nurses lived a mile outside the yard in a building shared with a motion picture theater and billiard hall. Medical officers would not be commissioned as housing was not available, so they were civilians. They had to use the basement rooms in Bremerton or commuted from Seattle.
Additions were also made to the main hospital. Masonry brick wings, connected by an enclosed corridor, were added to the hospital in 1924 and 1925. The hospital reached a capacity of 400 beds Worked stopped during the 1930s due to the depression. Public Works Administration (PWA) projects began on base in 1936. They built the corpsmen barracks and another hospital wing. The hospital now consisted of the administration building and eight wings.