Sheltering Arms Hospital
Why it's listed
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.
Significance in brief: 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.
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 82003542, listed June 25, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Clark St., Athens |
|---|---|
| County | Athens County |
| Listed | June 25, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82003542 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1900- (specific dates 1911, 1921, 1939) |
| Architect / builder | Charles A. Breinig |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Science, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | 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. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 39.33567, -82.11190 (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.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
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 82003542.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q20710220
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.