map of St. Elisabeth

Exploring the History of St. Elizabeths Hospital Through a 1867 Map

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This is a terrific old map from 1867 that we dug up at the Library of Congress. The land on top of which St. Elizabeths Hospital was built had been referred to as St. Elisabeth since the Colonial times and the hospital had informally taken the area’s name ever since.

The land was subdivided into acre lots on this map after the Civil War, to be sold to freedmen. Make sure to click on the map for greater detail.

Map of the division of the north half of a tract of land called "St. Elisabeth," situated on the east side of the Anacostia River in the county of Washington, D.C. : surveyed into one acre lots for sale to freedmen
Map of the division of the north half of a tract of land called “St. Elisabeth,” situated on the east side of the Anacostia River in the county of Washington, D.C. : surveyed into one acre lots for sale to freedmen

Source: Library of Congress

Take a look at the approximate area today on the Google Map. Some of the roads have the same names and you can see some lots are the same.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?t=m&dg=opt&ie=UTF8&ll=38.85662,-76.989226&spn=0.01178,0.022724&z=16&output=embed]

2 thoughts on “Exploring the History of St. Elizabeths Hospital Through a 1867 Map”

  1. Ghosts: This is a great find. Thank you for posting. This looks to be the original “Barry Farm” development that was a 375-acre tract purchased in May 1867 by Gen. O. O. Howard of the Freedmen’s Bureau. You can see street names of “Sheridan” “Stevens” “Wade” “Sumner” and “Pomeroy” that are still in currency in today’s neighborhood. – JM

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