Livingood House-Stryker Hospital
Why it's listed
Built as a brick town house at 419 Walnut Street in Reading between 1866 and 1871, this three-story Italianate dwelling sits close to the sidewalk in a dense downtown block. Francis B. Shalters, a dry goods merchant, had the house built, and it later passed to the family of lawyer Jacob S. Livingood. In 1907 Dr. H. Denton Stryker bought the property and within a few months opened a private hospital there, which he ran from 1908 until 1920. He added a west wing around 1921, and the hospital operated until 1933. The building is regarded as an example of a substantial five-bay center-hall house in Reading, a type rare locally. Its hospital use reflects the growth of paying-patient hospitals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when middle-class residents began accepting hospital care. The nomination treats it as a surviving record of that short-lived private model.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the building is significant for its role as a small private hospital operated by Dr. H. Denton Stryker from 1908 to 1933, an alternative to large charity hospitals. It also argues the house is a rare local example of the five-bay center-hall town house in Reading's Italianate style.
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 96001195, listed November 7, 1996. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 417--419 Walnut St., Reading |
|---|---|
| County | Berks County |
| Listed | November 7, 1996 |
| Reference number | 96001195 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | C. 1866 1933 |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Health/Medicine, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Converted to apartments after the hospital closed in 1933; later owned by ADAPPT, Inc., which uses it as a residential treatment facility. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 40.33740, -75.92877 (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 96001195.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6659613
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.