With a smallpox outbreak in the 1850s, the City Of New York constructed a hospital on then Blackwell Island. The hospital was completed in 1856 and opened in 1857. By 1875 it was renamed Riverside Hospital serving more than smallpox care, but this only until 1886 when patients are moved to North Brother Island. The hospital is converted to the Home for The Nurses Of The Maternity And Charity Hospital Training School.
In the 1950s, the building is abandoned though the now-named Welfare Island is growing physically with landfill being dumped to the south. The building decays until it was structurally stabilized in 1970, though the roof was removed shortly afterward. Welfare Island became Roosevelt Island in 1973.
It has also become a memorial for New Yorkers that died of the COVID-19 virus.
Details
- Website: Friends Of The Ruin
- Location: E Rd, New York, NY 10044
- Hours: Public Park hours 9am-7pm – exterior viewing
- Social: n/a
Getting There
Smallpox Memorial Hospital is at the southern end of Roosevelt Island. You can take the F train or the Roosevelt Island Tramway to the island, or drive from Queens using the Roosevelt Island Bridge. You can walk, drive, or take the local bus down the South Loop Road, then walk south to the Hospital.
Maps
Sources
- Official site: Friends Of The Ruin
- Wikipedia: Smallpox Hospital