Bertie Memorial Hospital
Why it's listed
Built on a city block near downtown Windsor and completed in 1952, Bertie Memorial Hospital is a three-story building designed by George Watts Carr in a restrained International Style. Its fourteen-inch brick walls, horizontal ribbon windows framed in limestone, steel hopper windows and glass block stairwells give it a simple geometric form. The hospital was funded under the federal Hill-Burton Act of 1946, which helped rural and small communities build hospitals they had previously lacked. Bertie County had only a small emergency hospital before it opened, and the new fifty-bed facility offered x-ray equipment, operating rooms, a delivery room and a pharmacy. Its original interior plan, with a central corridor, terrazzo floors and glass block stairwells, largely survives. The building is listed for its importance to local health care and for the integrity of its modern design.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the hospital is locally significant for health and medicine because it brought advanced care to Bertie County, which previously had few facilities, under federal Hill-Burton Act funding. It is also argued to be an excellent local example of mid twentieth-century International Style-inspired design that retains much of its architectural integrity.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 04000647, listed June 22, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 401 Sterlingworth St., Windsor |
|---|---|
| County | Bertie County |
| Listed | June 22, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04000647 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1952-1954 |
| Architect / builder | Carr, George Watts |
| Architectural style | Modern Movement: International Style |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Health/Medicine, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 3.6 |
| Coordinates | 36.00022, -76.95341 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 04000647.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4895649
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.