{"nrhp_refnum":"01001557","name":"Boston Consumptives Hospital","other_names":["Boston Sanatorium"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"249 River St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.27440300000006,"lon":-71.083026451642,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-02-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Health/Medicine"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 19-building hospital campus at 249 River Street in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood, built as a tuberculosis sanatorium from 1908 on a site that originally held a mid-19th century house and cottage. It was designed by Maginnis & Walsh and James H. Ritchie & Associates.","why_significant":"The complex is significant under Criteria A and C at the statewide level. It was the largest tuberculosis treatment facility in Massachusetts and shows how the disease was treated with open-air wards and cottage wards. It is also an intact collection of buildings in Italianate, Craftsman, Art Deco and several Revival styles.","narrative":"Set on a hillside in Boston's Mattapan neighborhood, this campus on River Street grew from a mid-19th century country property into the largest tuberculosis hospital in Massachusetts. The city opened it to patients in July 1908, when consumption was among the leading causes of death in Boston. Buildings were added over the following decades, including two-story concrete wards, small cottage wards for patients who could walk, open-air wards, a power house, a nurses home and a large administration building completed in 1929. Treatment relied on fresh air, rest and nourishing food, and the layouts show this through porches, balconies and open wards. The 19 surviving buildings represent Italianate, Craftsman, Art Deco and Revival styles, designed largely by Maginnis & Walsh and James H. Ritchie & Associates. Stone walls line most of the boundary. Several wards stand vacant and in poor condition, but the complex keeps its overall architectural integrity and its record of early public tuberculosis care.","period_of_significance":"1856-1951","architect_builder":"Maginnis & Walsh; James Ritchie","architectural_style":"Italianate, Craftsman, Art Deco, Neo-Classical, Colonial Revival and other Revival styles","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Many buildings remain in use and are in good repair. Wards A, B, C, D, the Children's Ward, the Men's Open Air Ward and Conness Cottage are vacant and in poor condition from vandalism, neglect and water infiltration. The 52-acre site is being subdivided.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.511637-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/39/7969/63796939/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/01001557.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001557/313d6f14d5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001557/313d6f14d5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_Consumptives_Hospital_Boston_MA_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_Consumptives_Hospital_Boston_MA_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796939","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Sanatorium","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4947861"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/boston-consumptives-hospital-01001557/"}