St. Luke's Hospital, former hospital in Davenport, Iowa, United States
St. Luke's Hospital is an Italianate-style building in Davenport that started as a private house before being converted to a hospital in 1893. The red brick structure features tall windows, decorative brackets under the eaves, and a small belvedere at the top.
The original house was built in 1850 and converted to a hospital by Reverend William Stephens Perry in 1893, opening in 1895 with twenty beds. A major expansion around 1903 nearly tripled the size, allowing more patients and better surgical facilities, before the building was abandoned in 1919 when a new hospital opened elsewhere.
The building represents Davenport's evolution in local healthcare. Women held leadership roles here unusually long for the time, with the majority of management being female until 1946, which set this hospital apart from others.
The building sits on a hilltop overlooking downtown Davenport, near West 8th Street. The area is quiet with older trees and walkways, making it easy to walk through the neighborhood and view the exterior details.
A postcard from around 1898 shows the hospital with children and a woman posing in front, raising questions about their identities that spark curiosity about that era. Surgery was scheduled based on sunny or cloudy weather because doctors relied on natural light, showing how far medical practice has advanced.
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