A Doctor of Old Lake View
The history of Chicago's hospitals began with an almshouse; a type of health care facility established by Cook County as part of its responsibility to provide care for indigent or homeless county residents and for sick or needy travelers. This building was located at the corner of Clark and Randolph streets. This public charity operation was established as early as 1835. It did provide medical assistance but such places like this one typically crowded the ill together with the healthy poor, the insane, and persons who were permanently incapacitated. Unlike the Cook County, the City of Chicago had no legal mandate to care for the sick poor, but its charter did charge it with guarding against “pestilential or infectious diseases.” Cholera had hit the area in 1832, and smallpox and scarlet fever were familiar to many years before that time period. By 1843 fear of cholera prompted city officials to build the first institution devoted exclusively to medical care in Chicago, a small wooden structure located on the far northern border of the city. Ironically, it was built on land bought for a cemetery. This first hospital [was a] frame structure the was rebuilt in 1852 at North Avenue and the lakefront was designed to keep victims of contagious disease away from the center of population.
- Illinois Trails & Encyclopedia of Chicago.
The text images below each title is from two sources:
Illinois Medical Directory of 1910 and
History of Medicine and Surgery of 1922.
Excerpt from the History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
Lake View Area Hospitals: Past
Illinois Medical Directory of 1910 and
History of Medicine and Surgery of 1922.
Excerpt from the History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
Lake View Area Hospitals: Past
the Federal Hospital
1872-1965
postcard dated 1912 - Ebay
Read more about this U.S. hospital in another post

image - Lincoln Park by Melaine Apel
image - Lincoln Park by Melaine Apel
This institution was the first hospital dedicated to children. Julia Foster Porter opened the original hospital in 1882 after her 13-year-old son, Maurice, died of rheumatic fever, and she realized there was no hospital in Illinois that
specialized in treating children.- CBS Chicago
Children's Memorial Hospital
(related to hospital mentioned above)
photo 1909 - Chuckman Collection
1894 map zoomed
this 1894 Sanborn Map highlights
the hospital along Diversey east of Halsted
Built in 1886 originally located at 817 Diversey Boulevard and then shortly moved to its last location at 741 Diversey Boulevard. This 60 bed private facility mostly served the German American residents in a area. By 1920 this hospital was renamed Chicago General Hospital. This hospital is a by-product of an earlier hospital called The German Hospital of Chicago that was located on Larabee and Grant in 1883 squarely within the City of Chicago, at that time.The hospital was to be later renamed Grant Hospital during the anti-German years of World War I. The link between the two different hospitals was a man named Harry J. Haiselden who once served as a 'practicing resident' at German Hospital of Chicago to be later serve, after a couple of years, as chief surgeon at the German-American Hospital by 1915.
The German Hospital
(related to the German-American Hospital)
The German Hospital of Chicago
photo - Chicago History in Postcards

image - Illinois Medical Directory 1910

photo - Chicago History in Postcards

image - Illinois Medical Directory 1910

German Hospital of Chicago
'On a snowy day in December 1883, a meeting was held at
the Medical Mission located at Chicago and La Salle streets. At the conclusion
of this meeting the then-named “German Hospital of Chicago” was incorporated to
serve the burgeoning population of the north side of Chicago following the
Chicago Fire of 1871 and, most especially, the German immigrant population
around its Lincoln Park location, then at 2225 Lincoln Avenue. There were only
six other hospitals operating in Chicago, all located a long and difficult
horse and buggy ride away from Lincoln Park. At its inception the hospital
could accommodate thirteen patients. In 1918, at the beginning of World War I,
the name of the hospital was changed to Grant Hospital of Chicago, reflecting
the diversifying population of its staff, patients and neighborhood. The
hospital continued to grow, deliver compassionate care, and innovate for one
hundred eleven years until its sale in January 1994 to Columbia Healthcare
Corporation, a for-profit entity. At the time of this sale the hospital was
located on the northeast corner of Lincoln Avenue and Webster, still serving
the community of Lincoln Park but also attracting patients and
staff from the entire metropolitan region.'
Mr. Haiselden is important in this tale of hospital linkage due to the decision he made that create a firestorm of debate in the medical world and in public opinion.
As chief surgeon he repetitively refused to perform needed surgery for children born with severe birth defects and allowed the babies to die, an act of eugeics. A silent film was produced from this debate called The Black Stork in 1917.
image - NPR
There is a YouTube video of it provided here.
Troubles continued in 1918
Renamed Grant Hospital
images - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922

and lastly called
image via Benny Alvarez Forgotten Chicago-Facebook
The Lake View Hospital:
Its Evolution
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postcard images - Chicago History in Postcards
|
Built by 1910 located on the northwest corner area of Montrose and Clarendon Avenues. Frank Cuneo, Jr. donated the hospital building to Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, an organization founded by Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini, a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
This renamed hospital (1940's) was once located at
4420 Clarendon Avenue in the Buena Park neighborhood of the community of Uptown. The hospital was dedicated to the health and well-being of children.
image - History of Medicine & Surgery
The newer hospital was across the street
Chicago - Photographic Images of Change
(University of Illinois at Chicago) 1958
Chicago - Photographic Images of Change
(University of Illinois at Chicago) 1958
The second building was constructed in 1958 across the street from the original building and linked with a passage bridge (much like in this photo) at 720 West Montrose. That second hospital closed in July 1988. Its last occupant was Columbus Maryville Academy. - Photos below from E-Bay
The administration building was across the street from the hospital. The hospital was listed on a preservation list in 2012 - Chicago Preservation. I have a Facebook album on it.
Lincoln Park Sanitarium
1891-1903
to be called Columbus Hospital
The original building was constructed in 1890, nearly two years after the City of Lake View was annexed to the City of Chicago. It was located on the southeast corner of Deming and Lake View Avenue.
text - Handbook of Chicago Charities
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of the area
a zoomed view of the above map
and still the home of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini Chapel
but now a location for residential living
1905-2001?

image - image - Illinois Medical Directory 1910
a 1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map view
text - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
to be called Columbus Hospital
a 1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map of the area
a zoomed view of the above map
and then ...
Columbus Hospitaland still the home of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini Chapel
but now a location for residential living
a 1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map view
A 1909 postcard from the Chuckman Collection
A Catholic American saint named Frances Xavier Cabrini established her organization’s presence in Chicago with the construction of this hospital in 1905. It was a hospital designed with the just arrived and poor immigrant in mind. The hospital patient capacity was 551-beds with
a variety of services before its closure. By 2001 the hospital was sold to a developer who had a interesting issue - a shrine that was built in the middle of the hospital that was dear to the Catholic faithful.
1959 photo - Art Institute of Chicago
After ten years of city and negotiations
was near completion.
page - East Lake View by Matthew Nickerson
The Shrine
images - YouTube
photo below - Catholic New World
page - East Lake View by Matthew Nickerson
The Shrine
images - YouTube
photo below - Catholic New World
Daily News Sanitarium
I contend when the Lincoln Park Sanitarium became Columbus Hospital the Chicago Daily News decided to build and open their own sanitarium along the newly land-filled area of Lincoln Park, the park. By the time of its construction the park only reached to Cornelia Avenue.

images - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
I contend when the Lincoln Park Sanitarium became Columbus Hospital the Chicago Daily News decided to build and open their own sanitarium along the newly land-filled area of Lincoln Park, the park. By the time of its construction the park only reached to Cornelia Avenue.

images - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
1929 aerial view - Chicago History Museum
via Explore Chicago Collection - reversed negative image
via Explore Chicago Collection - reversed negative image
Established in 1887 when Lake View citizens voted for a city charter (1887-1889) was the establishment of the Chicago Daily News 'open-aired' sanitarium. The property was located north of Fullerton Avenue and at the time north of Lincoln Park, the park before park was land-filled northward. One of the most universal and pervasive approaches for people with the most common pulmonary form of the disease was that of rest and fresh air for patients, that lead to the establishment and proliferation of sanitariums across the country
via Explore Chicago Collection - reversed negative image
1902 front yard view - Chicago History Museum
via Explore Chicago Collection - reversed negative image
and below a 1907 inside view - Chicago History Museum
via Explore Chicago Collection - reversed negative image
View more photos
Kenner's Charitable Hospital
along Briar Place between Sheridan Road
and (inner) Lake Shore Drive
Originally the Stout Estate 1917-1932
Read more about this property with his Facebook link
from LakeView Historical on Facebook
Articles below tell a tale of zoning issues in 1947
Lost a tax break in 1955
This hospital struggled with zoning and federal tax issues from 1944 to 1955. This hospital was rezoned and later converted from an old stately mansion estate/hospital to high-rise residential living. All the buildings within the concrete wall was razed by 1959.
buying another health care facility in 1991
District of Lake View 1907
image - Illinois Medical Directory 1910
text image - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
postcard - Ebay
image - Frank McGuire via Historic Chicago-Facebook
Fred Kissner was the photographer
This hospital had a bright future and then suddenly an unforgiving end. View the articles and links below about its history that finally resulted in its demolition.
1951 a nursing school
1961 another expansion
The Beginning of the End
In 1998 this hospital failed a young man in need. According this article 'One friend ran inside the hospital and got two police officers to rush to Christopher’s aid. The officers and witnesses begged hospital staff to assist, but they demurred citing hospital policy that forbid them to exit the building. The officers on scene were also bound by protocol to not move injured people and wait for paramedics. At 6:23pm a request for an ambulance went out over police radio. Ignoring protocol one of the officers finally commandeered a wheelchair and rushed Christopher into the emergency room with a barely detectable pulse.' Christopher death received US presidential attention according to Ebay magazine. By 2002 the hospital was to be sold and a decade later to be demolished due to vacancy and neighborhood complaints.
renderings of the new school space 2014
By 2014 a school replaced the building space that was once a still engaging hospital that serve the needs of the greater Ravenswood community area.
669 W Irving Park Road
1927-1950ish
1950 Sanborn Fire Map - top left corner
1923 Sanborn Fire Map
The hospital was the former Irving-Pine Hotel
American Hospital
850 W Irving Park Road
currently the location of Thorek Hospital
images - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
Chicago General Hospital
741 W Diversey Parkway
images - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
North Chicago Hospital
2551 N Clark Street
images - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
John B. Murphy Hospital
1927-1950ish
Dr. Samuel Burrows founded the Burrows Hospital and held the title of head surgeon. The hospital was established in 1927 and apparently closed by the mid 20th century. According to a 1930 Chicago Daily News article his father Thomas (retired?) was also a doctor who resided in the same hospital, former hotel, til his death in September 1930.
1923 Sanborn Fire Map
The hospital was the former Irving-Pine Hotel
American Hospital
850 W Irving Park Road
currently the location of Thorek Hospital
images - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
Chicago General Hospital
741 W Diversey Parkway
images - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
North Chicago Hospital
2551 N Clark Street
John B. Murphy Hospital
image - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
photo - Chicago History in Postcards
The building is still located on Belmont west of Broadway
The building is still located on Belmont west of Broadway
This training hospital was named after John Benjamin Murphy who advocated his professional life in the treatment of appendicitis to prevent complications. He performed one of the first operations in early acute appendicitis in 1889. Once located at 628 W Belmont Avenue the 'Lake View Hospital Association & Training School for Nurses' was established as early as 1910.


This 1923 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map indicates the hospital on the left and Herman Beardsley Butler House to the right (the former Hull House of Lake View) and currently the
LakeView Athletic Club.
Opening of the Murphy Hospital in 1921
Hospital Sold to Mundelein 19281929 Expansion
Closed and Re-used 1940
This building is currently used for residential living.
A studio in this rental building costs over $1000 per month as of 2016.This building was once associated with Illinois Masonic Hospital once located on Belmont Avenue east of Broadway
Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center

The original name was Chicago Union Hospital. This facility was both a general hospital and training school for nurses.
image - History of Medicine and Surgery 1910
image - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
1908 postcard - my personal collection


The original name was Chicago Union Hospital. This facility was both a general hospital and training school for nurses.
image - History of Medicine and Surgery 1910
image - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
1908 postcard - my personal collection

1923 Sanborn Fire Map that highlights the hospital on formerly named Florence Avenue as well as St. Sebastian Parish and Chicago Gospel Tabernacle on Barry Avenue
Personal Testimony About the Evolution
(lost this source & to be research again)
"It was a struggle through the best of times and the worst of times to transform the Union Hospital into the Illinois Masonic Medical Center. It began modestly when a caring company of men and women, members of a Baptist Sunday School Class, resolved to build a hospital to meet the health needs of their local community. The hospital emerged into a major Masonic enterprise dedicated to healing of the ills of its’ day." (Initially, the hospital only provided care to a possible 51 patients according the Benevolent Institutions - 1910.)
"When it became obvious that the hospital enterprise involved more than could be managed by members of a well-intentioned Sunday School Class. Most the class were Masons or members of the Eastern Star. Its leaders of the hospital turned to the Masonic Order (Free-Mansionary fraternal origination) for assistance. It was a fortuitous development since Masons were planning to develop a hospital to provide care for their own, and in 1921 purchased the Union Hospital and later renamed it Illinois Masonic Hospital”. Even as of 1969 there was still a hint of the hospital's 'Free Mason' past as the article below indicates...
The Health Needs - 1971
A Pictorial History
from the 1st floor of 836 Wellington building's hallway
photos taken by Garry Albrecht





also shown is Morris Elementary School (demolished)


expansion photos
construction of building # 6 1958
photos - UIC via Explore Chicago

caption on back of this postcard read
'548 bed urban medical center'
1960's photo - Illinois Lodge of Research
836 Wellington building built in 1973Unit 371
a care unit for HIV patients

the old parking lot is currently the site
of Center for Advanced Care
photo - Lake View Patch
photo - Lake View Patch
Plans for Future in 2013
photo - SmithGroupJJR
This institution is recognized for its care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender patients across the array of medical needs and emergency services.
2013 photo - Lake View Patch
2013 photo - Lake View Patch
2013 photo - Lake View Patch
2013 photo - Lake View Patch
2013 photo - Lake View Patch
2013 photo - Lake View Patch
2013 photo - Lake View Patch
The new Center for Advanced Care building on Barry
2015 It's done and ready for business according to this link!
The Medical Campus Currently
Google Earth view 2016
The Medical Campus Currently
Google Earth view 2016
A New Parking Tower in 2020
with noice protection wall off the Redline
In the Beginning: Wright Woods
text above - History of Medicine and Surgery 1922
Articles in 1870
text above - Illinois Medical Directory 1910
postcard - Chicago History in Postcards
"The hospital is fitted with all the latest improvements for ventilation, heating, etc., and has accommodations for three hundred patients in wards and private rooms. Of the latter there are fifty, tastefully decorated, supplied with light and air. The wards are also models of neatness and comfort and so carefully have the interests of the sick been provided for that open fireplaces have been place in each ward. The building is heated by steam. The schedule of prices is so arranged that all classes of patients can be accommodated and avail themselves, at reasonable rates, of the superior advantages of the hospital." - caption from the above image
In 1870, a religious order called the Daughters of Charity purchased a piece of land for a new hospital at what is now Burling Street and Dickens (Garfield) Street later to be known as community of Lincoln Park. In October 1871, while the hospital was under construction, the city suffered from the Great Chicago Fire. The new hospital building was spared and served as a shelter for many of the fire victims. In 1872, the sisters of moved into a new building and renamed it Saint Joseph Hospital. This organization also served orphans calling it the St. Joseph Provident Orphan Asylum located between Belmont Avenue and Diversey Parkway.
The Opening of New Hospital
1872 Chicago Daily Tribune
Sofia=Dickens Avenue
Sofia=Dickens Avenue
(click on article to enlarge)
photo - Friends of Cuneo-Facebook
Vacated a Segment of Surf Street in 1958
The architect was Edo J. Belli (1918-2003)
1963 photo - Art Institute of Chicago

2900 inner Lake Shore Drive/Diversey Parkway
In 1893 The Saint Joseph School of Nursing, which was affiliated with DePaul University, opened on the Burling Street property. By 1894, inpatient and outpatient services in the hospital included surgery, medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiac care and eye, ear, nose and throat treatment. Some 1,504 nurses graduated from the school prior to its Burling Street closing in 1964.
In 1964 patients and staff were moved into the new 500-bed Saint Joseph Hospital on its current site at 2900 LSD.
In 1995 Saint Joseph Hospital merged with Columbus Hospital & Saint Anthony Hospital in Pilsen/Little Village.
In 1995 Saint Joseph Hospital merged with Columbus Hospital & Saint Anthony Hospital in Pilsen/Little Village.
photo - Lake View Patch
photo - Lake View Patch
In 2013 construction began at Saint Joseph Hospital so to build the new Presence Center for Advanced Care, an almost $150 million expansion project that will take two years to complete - with a 2013 Google view

first rendition - Lake View Patch photo
And across the street on the northwest corner of Diversey Parkway and Sheridan Road was once the Amalgamated Meat Cutters International & Butcher Workmen Headquarters that is presently used by the hospital as office space.
Their Medical Center
Amalgamated Meat Cutters International & Butcher Workmen Headquarters was associated with the
Stock Yards and meatpacking industry.
- postcard by Chuckman Collection
photos - Photographic Images of Change
(University of Illinois at Chicago)
1959 - from Greg Russell, Forgotten Chicago on Facebook
The building was sold to St. Joseph's in 1980. The building was vacant for about a year after the a new union was formed that united the Retail Merchants with Meat Cutters.
(click on article to enlarge)
Poker Anyone?
images - Ebay
a 2016 Google view of the hospital campus
below are the hero's of Advocate Illinois Masonic
No Baseball for Awhile
a report from WGN




From the Chamber of Commerce



later in the day I received this email
from Block Club Chicago

June 8, 2020
images - Ebay
a 2016 Google view of the hospital campus
The Pandemic Covid-19 Event of 2020
This virus originated in China and spread like wild firebelow are the hero's of Advocate Illinois Masonic
a report from WGN
Wrigley Field is chipping in ...
Boystown is in Shelter-in-Place
like the rest of the city
From the Chamber of Commerce
Mayor Lori Lightfoot doing her bit
News in April 16, 2020from Block Club Chicago
June 8, 2020
These posts are exclusively used for educational purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!
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