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Image 1: HABS/HAER image of the Jonah Thompson House in the 1930s. This building was used as the Fairfax Street Hospital during the Civil War. (Library of Congress). Click here for larger image. |
Image 2: Fairfax Street Hospital, identified along with other hospitals on a section of Magnus' Birdseye View of Alexandria, Va. (Library of Congress). |
Quartermaster map of Fairfax Hospital and vicinity. |
 Detail of Quartermaster Map.
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Fairfax Street Hospital today, known as the Jonah Thompson House. |
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History of the Fairfax Street Hospital
209-211 N. Fairfax Street
The houses at 209-211 South Fairfax Street were built by Jonah Thompson in 1805 as residences, and are today known as the Jonah Thompson Houses or the Marriage House. In the 1840s, this large property, with a loggia facing the rear garden and river, became a female seminary, or school, run by Benjamin Hallowell.
Opened August 22, 1861, Fairfax Street Hospital became an element of the First Division of Alexandria Hospitals after September 20, 1862. In 1864, it became part of the Mansion House Hospital, also in the First Division, which had about 753 beds in a December, 1864 census.
- Source:Organization of the Hospitals in the Department of Washington , by Susan C. Lawrence, Civil War Washington website.
Historic Images
Image 1:
- Title: Jonah Thompson Houses, 211 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Independent City, VA
- Image Source:Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
- Image Date: 1930s
- Medium: 5x7” B/W photographic print
- Library of Congress Reproduction Number: HABS VA,7-ALEX,57-1
- Library of Congress Call Number: HABS VA,7-ALEX,57-1
- Library of Congress Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication.
Image 2:
- Title: Birdseye View of Alexandria, Va.
- Creator: Charles Magnus, publisher
- Image Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
- Image Date: 1863
- Medium: Colored Lithograph
- Library of Congress Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-348
- Library of Congress Call Number: PGS - Magnus--Birds eye view
- Library of Congress Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on publication
Quartermaster Map
The Quartermaster map shows the Fairfax Street Hospital and vicinity. A detail shows the elevation of the hospital.
Location and the Site Today
Located at 209-211 N. Fairfax Street, the Fairfax Street Hospital is now once again private residences, known as the Jonah Thompson House.
- See the location today on Google maps.
- Civil War Hospitals Map (pdf)
- More Union Hospitals
- Alexandria Civil War Hospitals, interactive StoryMap
- Alexandria Civil War Hospitals Walking Tour Brochure