The Almshouse, also known as the City Home is a historic

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

and hospital complex located in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

History

The Almshouse

The Richmond Almshouse and

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

complex includes the Main Building, a one-story administration building built , the West Building, and the Garage. The Main Almshouse Building was built in 1860–61, and is an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

style brick building consisting of three symmetrically spaced pavilions linked by hyphens. Each pavilion is three stories tall, three bays wide, and rises above a raised full-story basement. The West Building was built in 1908. Its basic design is very similar to the 1860-61 Almshouse, except that each pavilion is two stories tall.

The Colored Almshouse

The West Building was built to be the new Colored Almshouse, also known as the new Colored Home. It replaced the old "Colored Almshouse" and hospital which was opened in 1868. It was located on what is now the grounds of the Hebrew Cemetery Annex. Those same grounds were the former location of the City Hospital for smallpox, along with a portion of the Shockoe Hill African Burying Ground. The new Colored Almshouse also housed a charity hospital for African-American residents of Richmond. The garage is a two-story masonry and wood frame two bay building. The Almshouse, later called the Richmond Nursing Home, continued to serve the less-fortunate members of the Richmond community until the late 1970s. an
''Accompanying two photos''
/ref> It is now in use again as a privately managed home for low-income residents.

General Hospital #1

From 1861 to 1864, the Almshouse served as a Confederate States hospital, officially designated General Hospital No. 1 but also widely known as the Alms House Hospital. It operated under the direction of Dr. Charles Bell Gibson, the head of surgical department at the Medical College of Virginia. Many casualties from the battles of First and Second Manassas, Ball's Bluff, the Seven Days, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville were treated here. For much of that time, Union sick and wounded were treated in the building as well. In 1864, the building transitioned briefly to use as an officers-only facility until closing as a hospital in mid-1864. In December 1864, it became the home of the

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

, after that campus had been burned by Union troops under the command of Gen.

David Hunter David Hunter (July 21, 1802 – February 2, 1886) was an American military officer. He served as a Union general during the American Civil War. He achieved notability for his unauthorized 1862 order (immediately rescinded) emancipating slaves ...

. The institute and its cadets occupied the building until the fall of Richmond to Union forces in April 1865.

Temporary and former Almshouse

While the new 1861 Almshouse was under construction and also during the Civil War, a temporary Almshouse was operated on the property of John W. Smith, the former keeper of the Gun Powder Magazine. The new Almshouse was the replacement for the former Almshouse also called the Poor-house and the Poor and Work House which was located at the same place. Its construction was completed in 1806.Chronicling America,
Virginia Argus, November 28, 1806 "At a MEETING of the Magistrates"
Library of Congress It was once the third largest building in the city of Richmond. The 1861 Almshouse was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1981, with a boundary increase in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Almshouse, The Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Italianate architecture in Virginia Religious buildings and structures completed in 1861 Buildings and structures in Richmond, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, Virginia 1861 establishments in Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia