{"nrhp_refnum":"66000684","name":"Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital","other_names":["Kirkbride's Hospital"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"111 N. 49th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.96089300750006,"lon":-75.21796280497944,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-06-23","areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital, a 19th-century mental hospital complex at 111 North 49th Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built in stone and brick between 1856 and 1859 to a plan by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the hospital is significant for its role in the humane treatment of the mentally ill in the nineteenth century and for its influence on the design of similar institutions in other states. Its wing-based plan with fresh air ducts and separate ward facilities is presented as an innovation of its day, and the original structure is said to remain much as it was when built.","narrative":"Built of stone and brick between 1856 and 1859 at 49th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia, the Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital was designed by Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride for the treatment of the mentally ill. A large central building, three and a half stories high with a gable roof and central dome, housed the administrative offices. Extending from it were symmetrical wings, about 250 feet long, with ventilation towers at their ends, and each patient room had its own fresh air duct. The hospital had sixteen wards, one for each of sixteen classes of patients, and each ward had its own parlor, dining room and bathroom. Gardens, shops and walks were provided for patients. Kirkbride's plan was adopted by many states, and his 1854 book on hospital construction remained influential. The original structure remains largely intact, though later additions and interior alterations have changed parts of it.","period_of_significance":"1859","architect_builder":"Thomas Story Kirkbride (designer of the hospital plan)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Portions of the hospital are no longer in use, the original ventilation towers are sealed, and the interior has been altered, with many patient rooms converted to offices.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:29.479852-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/66000684_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000684/26055857b3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000684/26055857b3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Related names: Holden, Isaac Sloan, Samuel Kirkbride, Thomas D Webster, Richard J, historian Dillon, Theodore F, photographer Boucher, Jack E, photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EAST_(MAIN)_FACADE_(5%27_x_8%27_negative)_-_Pennsylvania_Hospital_for_Mental_and_Nervous_Diseases,_Forty-fourth_and_Market_Streets,_Philadelphia,_Philadelphia_County,_PA_HABS_PA,51-PHILA,511-1.tif\" rel=\"noopener\">Related names: Holden, Isaac Sloan, Samuel Kirkbride, Thomas D Webster, Richard J, historian Dillon, Theodore F, photographer Boucher, Jack E, photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EAST_(MAIN)_FACADE_(5%27_x_8%27_negative)_-_Pennsylvania_Hospital_for_Mental_and_Nervous_Diseases,_Forty-fourth_and_Market_Streets,_Philadelphia,_Philadelphia_County,_PA_HABS_PA,51-PHILA,511-1.tif"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"72001151","name":"Fairmount Park","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/fairmount-park-72001151/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71994381","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_of_the_Pennsylvania_Hospital","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13598682"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/institute-of-the-pennsylvania-hospital-66000684/"}