Image 1: Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church, ca. 1862-1863

Image 2: Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church. National Archives and Records Administration.

Image 3: Receipt for medical supplies used at the Methodist Church Hospital.

Image 4: Washington Street Methodist Church Hospital, identified along with other hospitals on a section of Magnus' Birdseye View of Alexandria, Va.

The hospital is shown on a Quartermaster Map.

The Church remains in use today.

History of the Washington Street Methodist Church Hospital

115 S. Washington Street

This church was known as the Methodist Episcopal Church when the Union occupied it in January, 1862. The church was occupied because of the congregation’s Southern sympathies. According to the church archives, the upstairs sanctuary became a hospital and the first floor became a stable.

The church was returned to the congregation in 1865 and reopened for use in October of that year, after major repairs. A new façade was constructed in the 1870s. The Federal government paid $3,680 in Civil War reparations in 1915.

More Information: Union seized and used churches as Civil War hospitals based on ideology, Out of the Attic, May 4, 2017.

Historic Images

Image 1: 

• Title: Washington Street Methodist Episcopal Church, ca. 1862-1863
• Image Source: Washington Street Methodist Church Archives
• Image Date: ca. 1862-1863
• Medium: Photography
• Rights Advisory: Reproduced with permission, Washington Street Methodist Church

Image 2:

• Title: Washington Street Methodist Church
• Image Source: U.S. National Archives 
• Image Date: ca. 1860-1865 
• Medium: photograph 
• National Archives Rights Advisory: Unrestricted. 

Image 3:

• Title: Receipt for medicines, hospital stores, bedding &c., used at the Methodist Church Hospital
• Image Source: Washington Street Methodist Church
• Rights Advisory: Reproduced with permission, Washington Street Methodist Church

Image 4:  

• 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 hospital is shown on a Quartermaster Map.

Location and the Site Today

The building, at 115 S. Washington Street, continues to house the Washington Street United Methodist Church. 

• 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