St. Elizabeths Hospital, Allison B, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast 518-542 Redwood Drive, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

For an overview of the Allison Group, see HABS DC-349-BW
Significance: Allison B (Building 26) is significant for its association with the care of Civil War and other military veterans and the treatment of mental illness at the St. Elizabeths Campus. St. Elizabeths Hospital was established in 1852 as a curative treatment center for the mentally ill of Washington, D.C., and the United States Army and Navy through the efforts of Dorothea Lynde Dix, a national crusader for the ethical and humane treatment of the mentally ill. Following the Civil War, St. Elizabeths was expanded to accommodate the needs of aging and mentally challenged Civil War veterans. Constructed in 1899, Allison B was part of a group of four pavilions/cottages constructed around a small courtyard and connected by deep porches. It reflects the divergence from the original Kirkbride plan for housing patients within a single building segregated by ailment, to the creation of small free-standing cottages intended to promote a healthier environment and facilitate the orderly separation of patient groups. Allison B combined with Allison C, D, and A as the last of five clusters built between 1878 and 1899 to house an aging population of white male Civil War veterans.

Allison B is also significant for its architectural design. Allison B is a two-story building, predominately rectangular in plan with the main entrance on the north elevation. The building is primarily clad in red clay brick. The building has an enclosed porch on the south elevation, a one-story covered porch walkway on the west elevation, and a two-story covered porch walkway covering a portion of the west and north elevations. The Allison group forms a quadrant with a center courtyard, with Allison B on the west, Allison C on the east, Allison A is on the north, and Allison D, the largest of the building group, on the south. The buildings are connected with two-story wood porches.
Survey number: HABS DC-349-AO
Building/structure dates: 1899 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79003101