Patient Parlor, c. 1900

This photograph, probably taken around 1900, was labeled "Patient Parlor" in the hospital's 1903 annual report. The locations of the doorways and other "clues" indicate that the room shown above was actually located in one of the areas labeled "Dining Room" (for convalescent patients) on the original, 1853, floor plan. There is photographic and written evidence that, sometime prior to 1903, the hospital created one or more larger, centrally located dining rooms, or "refectories," that were shared by patients from more than one ward or "hall." This picture would seem to indicate the the original dining room on this "hall" was converted to a "patient parlor."In other instances, the dining rooms were converted to patient dormitories. A second view, apparently of the same parlor, is shown below.