Historic Medical Sites in the Washington, DC Area

History of Medicine

PLEASE NOTE: The Columbia Hospital for Women was closed in May of 2002. This page describes the history of the hospital; it is NOT a link to the Columbia Hospital for Women. For patient records, birth and death certificates, or other information from the hospital, contact the District of Columbia Department of Health at http://dchealth.dc.gov/, or call (202) 442-5955.

A black and white front angle view of the Columbia Hospital for Women, ca. 1920s - several multi-story buildings surrounded by trees. A very early model vehicle is parked on the street.

Columbia Hospital for Women, ca. 1920s
Courtesy Library of Congress
Closed May 2002

Columbia Hospital for Women
2425 L Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037

Columbia Hospital for Women, which closed in May 2002, was one of the oldest hospitals in Washington, DC and had occupied this site since 1870. Shortly after the Civil War, the Secretary of War E. N. Stanton authorized funds to establish a 50-bed hospital, stipulating that 20 of these beds be reserved for the wives and widows of U.S. soldiers. This was in response to a desperate need for a health-care facility for women who were arriving in the city in search of missing relatives. In March 1866, the hospital opened in the Hill Mansion at Thomas Circle (Massachusetts Avenue and 14th Street) under the name of Columbia Hospital for Women and Lying-in Asylum, and later moved to the Maynard Mansion at Pennsylvania Avenue and 25th Street, its current site. The original mansion was razed during a major renovation in 1914 and replaced by the present main hospital building. The Columbia became a private, non-profit hospital when President Eisenhower signed legislation transferring it to its board of directors in 1953. Columbia Hospital was a pioneer in the implementation of a number of innovative techniques in obstetrics and gynecology, and since its founding in 1866, more than 250,000 babies were delivered at Columbia.

The Columbia Hospital facility has been turned into an upscale condominum complex and is now known as The Columbia Residences of Washington, DC.

See: #19 on Downtown Map.

Nearest Metro Station: 'Foggy Bottom' on Blue and Orange Lines.