Jefferson Davis Hospital
Also known as: Old Jefferson Davis Hospital; City County Hospital
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Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
Jefferson Davis Hospital, at 1101 Elder Street in Houston, is a three-story Classical Revival building of concrete frame and red brick, completed in 1924-25 and joined by a brick power plant in 1929. City architect W.A. Dowdy designed it, and it cost about $400,000. It opened in March 1925 with 240 beds, replacing scattered charity health facilities across the city. The site sits on part of the Old City Cemetery, used from about 1840 to 1870. The hospital reflects early 20th-century ideas about patient care, including screened rear sleeping porches for fresh air and wards placed away from busy public areas. Its basement served African American patients under the segregated system of the time. The building proved too small and was replaced by a new hospital in 1937, after which it housed county health agencies and other tenants before being abandoned in the late 1980s. It was being rehabilitated as apartments when it was listed for its health and architectural importance.
Significance in brief: The hospital is significant under Criterion A for health and medicine, as Houston's first consolidated public hospital for indigent care, replacing scattered charity facilities. Under Criterion C it is a good example of early 20th-century hospital design, including screened sleeping porches reflecting the fresh-air treatment movement. The plan and Classical Revival style draw on New England and European hospital models.
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 05000859, listed August 10, 2005. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 1101 Elder, Houston |
|---|---|
| County | Harris County |
| Listed | August 10, 2005 |
| Reference number | 05000859 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1924-1936 |
| Architect / builder | W.A. Dowdy (city architect) |
| Architectural style | Classical Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Health/Medicine, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Abandoned in the late 1980s after decades of other uses; at the time of the form it was under rehabilitation for residential apartments using the federal preservation tax credit program. |
| Acreage | 1.6 |
| Coordinates | 29.76958, -95.36871 (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 05000859.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q18152640
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.