{"nrhp_refnum":"82003542","name":"Sheltering Arms Hospital","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Clark St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Athens","county":"Athens County","state":"OH","lat":39.335668714000064,"lon":-82.11189959799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Science","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick hospital complex on Clark Street in Athens, Ohio, built in stages between 1911 and 1939, starting as a private residence and growing into Athens' first hospital.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it shows how a small community hospital grew out of a family home, marking the shift from home-based medical care to hospital care in southeastern Ohio. It was the first hospital in Athens, opened in 1921, and operated on the site until 1970. The reviewer accepted it for local significance in medical care, but did not accept the claimed link to the Ohio University medical college.","narrative":"Sheltering Arms Hospital on Clark Street in Athens, Ohio, began as a family home and grew into the city's first hospital. The house at 17 Clark Street was built in 1911. In 1921 contractor Charles Breinig added a two-room hospital wing after a local physician, Dr. John Sprague, suggested it, and the Breinigs then built a new house next door. Further additions followed through the 1930s, and a maternity wing was built in 1939, all designed and built by Breinig. Before 1921, Athens residents needed to travel to cities such as Columbus or Marietta for hospital care. The hospital grew from a two-room facility to a fully accredited 60-bed hospital before patients and staff moved to a new building in 1970. It was listed for its local importance in medical history and community service. The reviewer treated the 1939 section as a minor part of the whole, and the building has since stood vacant and vandalized.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1911, 1921, 1939)","architect_builder":"Charles A. Breinig","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Vacated in 1970 when the new hospital opened; the interior was extensively vandalized and damaged by roof leaks. Plans called for rebuilding it as apartments.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.482482-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82003542.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003542/f486d7c50b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003542/f486d7c50b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jaknouse","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sheltering_arms-1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jaknouse</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:Sheltering_arms-1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986753","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheltering_Arms_Hospital_(Athens,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20710220"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/athens-county/sheltering-arms-hospital-82003542/"}