{"nrhp_refnum":"89001919","name":"Henderson Building, Southwestern State Hospital","other_names":["Dhl 119-4"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"E. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marion","county":"Smyth County","state":"VA","lat":36.833419427000024,"lon":-81.51187841199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-12-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An administration building at Southwestern State Hospital on East Main Street in Marion, Smyth County, Virginia. Built in 1887 to a design by the MacDonald Brothers of Louisville, it was remodeled in 1930-31.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be significant under Criterion A for its association with the history of mental health care in Virginia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is described as the most significant example in the region of a late-nineteenth-century structure tied to that history. It also qualifies under Criterion C for its architecture, combining the original Italianate design with a 1930 Classical Revival portico and rotunda.","narrative":"Serving as the administrative center of Southwestern State Hospital in Marion, this brick building was completed in 1887 after the MacDonald Brothers of Louisville won a design competition. It was built as part of Virginia's effort to expand mental health care, and the hospital's first patients arrived that year. It later took its name from Dr. E. H. Henderson, who served as superintendent from 1915 until his death in 1927. During 1930-31 the building was remodeled: an unsafe clock tower was replaced by an octagonal rotunda, and a two-story limestone and brick portico with Doric and Ionic columns was added across the front. The result blends Italianate origins with Classical Revival detail. Its original radiating ward wings were demolished in the mid-1980s to make room for new wards. The building is regarded as the region's most significant surviving late-nineteenth-century structure connected to the history of mental health care in Virginia, and it still serves as the hospital's main administration building.","period_of_significance":"1887-1939","architect_builder":"1887-McDonald Brothers, Louisville, KY, architects; Lewman & Sweeney, builders","architectural_style":"Late Victorian; Late 19th and 20th century Revivals: Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as the main administration building of the hospital complex. The rear wings and connecting corridor were removed in the mid-1980s, and new one-story wards were under construction at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.873222-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/6836/41683684/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/89001919.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001919/475c85ebde-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001919/475c85ebde-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Skye Marthaler","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henderson_Building.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Skye Marthaler</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:Henderson_Building.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683684","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henderson_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15223573"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/smyth-county/henderson-building-southwestern-state-hospital-89001919/"}