{"nrhp_refnum":"04000929","name":"Scottish Rite Hospital for Crippled Children (Boundary Decrease)","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"321 W. Hill St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Decatur","county":"DeKalb County","state":"GA","lat":33.76008507600005,"lon":-84.30229283599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-09-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former charity hospital campus for children in Decatur, DeKalb County, Georgia, founded in 1915, with main buildings designed by Neel Reid of Hentz, Reid and Adler and built 1918-1920. This documentation adds a 1948 maintenance building and laundry and removes newer housing from the boundary.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the campus is significant under Criterion A in medicine as a charity hospital for children, and under Criterion C in architecture for its intact group of hospital buildings. It was the first nationally renowned Scottish Rite or Shriners' children's hospital, and all current Shriners' hospitals trace their beginnings to it. The period of significance is extended to 1948 to cover the hospital's growth.","narrative":"This campus in Decatur, Georgia, began as the Scottish Rite Convalescent Hospital for Crippled Children, which opened in 1915 in two rented cottages. A 50-bed hospital designed by Neel Reid of Hentz, Reid and Adler was completed by 1920, funded by Masons, with doctors serving without pay. It became the first nationally renowned Scottish Rite or Shriners' children's hospital, and later Shriners' hospitals trace their roots to it. The hospital grew through the polio epidemics of the 1940s and 1950s and the rise of pediatric orthopedics. A maintenance and laundry building, paid for by a local women's club, was added in 1948, and a nurses' residence followed in 1957. The hospital began accepting paying patients in 1966 and moved to a new facility in 1976. The listing was amended to extend the period of significance to 1948, count the 1948 building as contributing, and remove newer housing from the boundary. The campus now hosts community tenants.","period_of_significance":"1918-1948","architect_builder":"Neel Reid of Hentz, Reid and Adler","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The hospital complex kept its original use until 1976, when a new hospital was built. The campus now houses community-oriented tenants including a YMCA, a community center and a gallery. The maintenance building was rehabilitated under the federal tax incentives program.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.046352-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/04000929.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000929/a9a4078ab6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000929/a9a4078ab6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Holizz","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:321_West_Hill_Street_02.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Holizz</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:321_West_Hill_Street_02.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207803","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Scottish_Rite_Hospital_building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084946"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/dekalb-county/scottish-rite-hospital-for-crippled-children-boundary-decrease-04000929/"}