2215 Portland Ave., Louisville, Kentucky. County/parish: Jefferson.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places September 25, 1997. NRIS 97001265.
3 contributing buildings. 1 contributing structure.
The United States Marine Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, in the Portland neighborhood was part of the U.S. Marine Hospital system, which was run by the Marine Hospital Service and its successor the Public Health Service, primarily for the benefit of the civilian merchant marine.
The campus contained two main buildings, both of which still exist. The old main building was built in 1845, and is considered by the National Park Service to be the best remaining antebellum hospital in the United States. Of the seven hospitals built in the mid-19th century by the Marine Hospital Service "for the benefit of sick seamen, boatmen, and other navigators on the western rivers and lakes", It is the only one still standing, even after surviving two tornadoes. The building's exterior has been extensively restored to match its appearance in 1899, but remains largely vacant.
The new main building was completed in 1933, and is still in use as a county-run primary care facility.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123849156