{"nrhp_refnum":"03000450","name":"Burrell Memorial Hospital","other_names":["BRBH Burrell Center","128-5863"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"611 McDowell St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Roanoke (Independent City)","county":"Roanoke (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.28269144500007,"lon":-79.96060883199993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-09-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story, T-shaped International Style hospital building at 611 McDowell Street in Roanoke, Virginia, built in 1953-1955 on the site of the former Allegheny Institute. It was designed by Harvey E. Hannaford of Samuel Hannaford & Son with the Roanoke firm Stone and Thompson.","why_significant":"It was the first institution in southwestern Virginia built expressly for the medical care of African Americans, and the only African-American medical facility in Roanoke from 1955 to 1965. It is the surviving physical result of a nearly half-century effort to provide care for the Black community. It is also a good example of 1950s International Style hospital design.","narrative":"Burrell Memorial Hospital is a four-story, T-shaped brick building on a hilltop site at 611 McDowell Street in Roanoke, Virginia. Built in 1953-1955 in the International Style, it was designed by Cincinnati architect Harvey E. Hannaford with the local firm Stone and Thompson. Its curved central core, concrete sunshades and ribbon windows emphasize horizontal lines. The hospital grew from a Black physicians' effort that began in 1914, when African Americans in Roanoke could not be treated in the city's white hospitals. A ten-bed hospital opened in 1915, later moved to the former Allegheny Institute building, and also trained Black nurses from 1925. The 80-bed building of 1955 was the only African-American medical facility in Roanoke until the 1965 Civil Rights Act and Medicare changes led to desegregation and declining patient numbers. The hospital closed in 1979 and became a home for adults. Later alterations changed the entrance and interiors, but the exterior form and grounds remain largely intact.","period_of_significance":"1953-1965","architect_builder":"Harvey E. Hannaford (Samuel Hannaford & Son); Stone and Thompson","architectural_style":"International","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Converted to a nursing home/adult care facility after the hospital closed in 1979; the south wing, formerly the emergency wing, operates as a medical clinic.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.99643-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/51/6833/41683351/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/03000450.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000450/27693edbf5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000450/27693edbf5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Patriarca12","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burrell_Memorial_Hospital_in_Roanoke,_Virginia.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Patriarca12</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:Burrell_Memorial_Hospital_in_Roanoke,_Virginia.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683351","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrell_Memorial_Hospital","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16849562"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/roanoke/burrell-memorial-hospital-03000450/"}