Public Health Service Hospital (San Francisco)

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Coordinates: 37°47′14″N 122°28′23″W / 37.78722°N 122.47306°W / 37.78722; -122.47306
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Public Health Service Hospital
The Presidio Landmark (former main building of the Public Health Service Hospital) in 2017
Map
Geography
Location1801 Wedemeyer Street,
San Francisco Presidio, San Francisco, California, United States
Coordinates37°47′14″N 122°28′23″W / 37.78722°N 122.47306°W / 37.78722; -122.47306
Organization
FundingGovernment hospital
Services
Beds500 (in 1853)
History
Former name(s)San Francisco Marine Hospital,
U.S. Marine Hospital
Opened1853
Closed1981
Links
Websitewww.presidio.gov/trust/projects/phsh/
ListsHospitals in California

The Public Health Service Hospital (PHSH) is a defunct hospital located in the Presidio of San Francisco, it was in operation (in this name) from 1912 to 1981. The precursor hospital was the San Francisco Marine Hospital, established in 1853, and renamed in 1912.[1][2] The building for the Public Health Service Hospital was erected in 1931 or 1932, and in 2010 the building was converted into a residential apartment building.

History[edit]

U. S. Marine Hospital, at the Rincon Point location

San Francisco Marine Hospital[edit]

See also: Marine Hospital Service

In 1851, United States Congress established the hospital as the San Francisco Marine Hospital (also known as the U.S. Marine Hospital, San Francisco).[3] The Marine Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the United States Merchant Marine, the United States Coast Guard, and other federal beneficiaries.

The building was completed in 1853, and had 500 beds at the time of opening.[3] The first location was at Rincon Point in 1853; it was damaged by the 1868 Hayward earthquake and abandoned.

A new building on the Presidio of San Francisco opened in 1875. A cemetery associated with the San Francisco Marine Hospital at the Presidio was actively used from approximately 1881 to 1912,[4] and (as of 2006) the remains of the cemetery were still partially visible.[4]

All of the Marine Hospital Service facilities nationwide evolved into part of the United States Public Health Service agency and the San Francisco Marine Hospital was renamed Public Health Service Hospital in 1912.

The abandoned West Wing (now demolished) in 2008

Public Health Service Hospital[edit]

See also: United States Public Health Service

The current building opened in 1932.[1][5] Two wings were added in the 1950s, which were later demolished in 2009.[1][6] In 1981, the Public Health Service Hospital shut down because of budget cuts.[7]

Between 1982 and 1988, the buildings housed the San Francisco branch of the Defense Language Institute. It was closed in December 1988, and all remaining students were moved to Monterey, with plans to sell the hospital to the city of San Francisco. In the following years, the building remained empty, and became popular with squatters, graffiti artists and ghost hunters who were attracted by the allegedly haunted former morgue and operating rooms.[7]

The historic 1932 modernist building was converted and rehabilitated for housing, and opened in 2010 as the Presidio Landmark apartments.[8]


  • Public Health Service Hospital historical photos
  • San Francisco Marine Hospital, a precursor
    San Francisco Marine Hospital, a precursor
  • San Francisco Marine Hospital (1875)
    San Francisco Marine Hospital (1875)
  • Aerial view of the hospital
    Aerial view of the hospital
  • The current hospital, prior to the 1950s demolition of the two wings
    The current hospital, prior to the 1950s demolition of the two wings

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Presidio of San Francisco - Public Health Service Hospital (U.S. National Park Service)". U.S. National Park Service. 2007-12-25. Archived from the original on 2007-12-25. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  2. ^ Dowd, Katie (2016-06-16). "Historic asylums and sanitariums of Northern California". SFGate. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
  3. ^ a b "1868–1898 - The Origins of the University of California and Affiliated Colleges, San Francisco's First Medical Institutions: Hospitals and Pesthouses". A History of UCSF, University of California San Francisco. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  4. ^ a b Nolte, Carl (2006-11-25). "San Francisco: Merchant seamen forgotten in death, Mariners' cemetery buried in debris, used as parking lot". SFGATE. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  5. ^ King, John (2010-07-06). "S.F. hospital gets proper treatment in makeover". SFGate. Retrieved 2021-12-21.
  6. ^ Gordon, Rachel (December 5, 2008). "S.F. Presidio hospital heads toward history". San Francisco Chronicle.
  7. ^ a b Berger, Chris (2014-03-04). "San Francisco Military Base Hospital Reborn as Apartments". Curbed. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  8. ^ King, John (July 6, 2010). "S.F. hospital gets proper treatment in makeover". San Francisco Chronicle.

External links[edit]

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