St. Elizabeths Hospital, West Campus
St Elizabeths hospital was founded by leading mental health reformer Dorthea Dix in 1855 as the U.S. Government Hospital for the Insane. The hospitals original mission was to provide the “most humane care and enlightened curative treatment of the insane of the Army, Navy, and District of Columbia.” St. Elizabeths was designed by Thomas U. Walters (architect of the Capital Building) and was built in 3 phases: west wing, east wing, and the center admin portion built last. During the Civil War St. Elizabeths was used as a treatment center and still contains a 300 person cemetery filled with both Union and Confederate soldiers. Congress officially changed the Hospital’s name to St. Elizabeths in 1916. By 1940 the Hospital Complex spanned 300 acres and housed 7,000 patients. It was the first and only federal mental health facility with a national scope. By 1987 the federal government transferred operation of the newer east campus to the DC Dept of Menal Health where it remains a mental health facility to this day. The original West Campus (which has been designated a National Historic Landmark) will undergo significant renovation and is set to become the new headquarters for the Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security.
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