Jefferson Davis Hospital, Houston, Texas
historic place
The Jefferson Davis Hospital, located in Houston, Texas, is a significant historic place in Harris County. This medical facility was completed in 1924 and opened in 1925, serving as Houston's first centralized municipal hospital for indigent patients. It was designed in the Classical Revival style by City Architect W. A. Dowdy. The hospital was built atop the 1840 Houston City Cemetery, which was active until the 1880s. Due to the lack of widespread grave removal, the building's basement was erected above ground. At the request of Confederate veterans and their families, the hospital was named for Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederate States of America, honoring the many Confederate veterans buried on the site. The original Jefferson Davis Hospital on Elder Street operated for about thirteen years before a new facility, also named Jefferson Davis Hospital, opened on Allen Parkway in 1937. The Elder Street building later served various purposes, including a psychiatric hospital and a juvenile detention ward. In 2005, the historic building was rehabilitated into residential lofts. It was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 2008. This site marks the beginning of city-county cooperation in providing centralized medical care for those in need.