Hospitals & Institutions of Washington Heights & Inwood    

Washington Heights and Inwood have a variety of hospitals and institutions that have served the communities over the years, some of which have left their mark on the lives of people while others have not.

Inwood Hill Park was home to two of these organizations. The House of Mercy bought land in 1888 and moved in two years later. It was run as an Episcopal girls home for the benefit and education of girls committed to its care. The House of Mercy closed its doors in the 1930s. Jewish Memorial Hospital got its start as the Inwood House of the Redeemer, run by the Magdalene Benevolent Society, and was in the park until 1933. In 1936 it moved to Broadway, where it operated until 1983, when it was forced to close its doors because of financial difficulties. The building was torn down to make way for Intermediate School 218, which was completed in the early 1990s.

The New York Juvenile Asylum was located at 176th and Audubon Avenue and was founded in 1851 by the Children’s Aid Society under a legislative act. It sheltered young children for as long as five years before placing them with families. The Asylum has a plot at Trinity Cemetery on 155th Street and Broadway dating to 1873. The asylum had been linked to the New York Foundling Hospital. It was also involved with the Orphan Trains, which sent orphans to families in 45 states here in America and also sent children to Canada and Mexico to be adopted. In 1901 a 277-acre farm was purchased in Dobbs’ Ferry, New York, and was renamed The Children’s Village.

Fort Washington Avenue at 163rd Street was the location of three institutions of note. The first was the Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, which was founded in 1817. The building that it operated from opened in 1834 and closed in the late 1920s to relocate to Valhalla, New York. In 1948 Delafield Hospital opened as a cancer research center for Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. It was named for Francis Delafield (1841-1915) a graduate of Physicians and Surgeons in 1863 who became a professor of pathology at Columbia. The hospital closed its doors in 1979, and the building lay dormant until May 16, 1985, when the Fort Washington Houses for the Elderly opened for senior citizens. Nearby, on Fort Washington Avenue and 166th Street, was the Institute for the Blind, which also closed in the 1920s.

The Saint Lawrence Hospital on Edgecombe Avenue and 163rd Street was taken over by Mother Cabrini’s Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1920. In 1958 the hospital was renamed Mother Cabrini Memorial Hospital. The hospital closed and was sold to become a minimum-security prison called the Edgecombe Correctional Facility.

Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, located between 165th Street and 168th Street from Broadway to Riverside Drive, is the only major hospital in Washington Heights and Inwood. The property was originally purchased in 1921 when the Presbyterian Hospital, originally located at 71st Street and Park Avenue, had plans for building the complex in conjunction with the College of Physicians and Surgeons located at Tenth Avenue and West 59th Street.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Medical Center were held on January 31, 1925. The hospital formally started its operations on March 16, 1928. By the end of the year, the Babies Hospital had moved from 56th Street and Lexington Avenue to its present quarters. The Neurological Institute move in the following year.

In 1977, the Julius and Armand Hammer Health Sciences Building opened. This contains medical libraries, offices for the Medical Center employees, the offices for Community Board 12 and Arts Interaction’s Hinter Steiner Gallery, the Washington Heights and Inwood Council for the Arts. A new era was heralded for the Medical Center in 1988. The Millstein Building on Fort Washington Avenue was opened. The Allen Pavilion was opened on Broadway and 220th Street to help provide for extra medical services for northern Manhattan and the Bronx.

The Wadsworth Hospital located on Wasworth Avenue and 185th Street served the community from the 1920s to the 1960s. It was taken over and made into a clinic.

The Isabella Geriatric Center is located on Amsterdam Avenue and 190th Street and has been a haven for the elderly for over 100 years. The center was established in 1875 as the Isabella Heimat Home for the Aging. The home was named for the founder’s daughter, who came from a German immigrant family and died at the age of 27.

The original building was erected and opened in 1889 and was razed in 1969 to make room for the expansion of the home’s facilities. It is a nonsectarian, nonprofit organization that helps the elderly with housing and health care.

With the health care problems of Washington Heights and Inwood constantly changing and expanding, the needs of the community are feeling the pinch of higher and higher costs for more facilities and less services provided.

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Readers’ Comments

Hi - I will be teaching at George Washington HS on 191 and Audubon Avenue next year and was wondering if you have any information on the history of the school and/or the remarkable building it occupies. Thanks! (Posted by Jessie on June 29, 2003 04:22 PM.)

Hi Jessie, George Washington High School I think had opened in the 1920’s. Its alumni is wide and varied. Such notables as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, newscaster Edwin Newman and entertainer Tiny Tim were among the graduates. It now houses several schools of which you will learn about. The site of the school was the site of Fort George which was a northern defensive post for Fort washington during the American Revolution. Nearby in Highbridge Park was the site of the Fort George Amusement Park which was in existance from 1895 to 1914. I hope you will find this information helpful. James Renner Community District 12 Historian (Posted by James Renner on September 8, 2003 08:02 PM.)

i was just sent your site by a cyberbuddy and find the links i’ve accessed so far very interesting. but i’m puzzled by something: with the exception of the mention of a shul in your audubon hall segment, i see no reference to institutions of the large german-jewish community which until recent years was a prominent feature of “the heights.” you have segments on several churches but not on any synagogues. or have i missed the segments in which community-relevant synagogues are mentioned? (Posted by inge on October 25, 2003 11:15 AM.)

Attended George Washington in the late 30’s and early 40’s-a wonderful school at the time. There the same time as Kissinger and Ed Newman. In another location of this site mentioned that in one of my biology classes the teacher was in charge of the reconstruction of the Fort George wall, the construction by the WPA. The stone wall can be seen surrounding the schools stadium. GW had championship baseball and football teams in those days, winning City Championships in both sports-playoffs were at Ebbets Field in BRooklyn,It was, academically, a tough school that required entrance exams to get in. Was fortunate to live off Amsterdam and 182nd Street then-they usually took students from the neighborhood without question. One of the school Inwood Annex was called Isham. Many great stories about a wonderful school that gave me an eduation that’s lasted a lifetime. (Posted by Pio DeVito on November 6, 2003 06:30 PM.)

I attended George Washington High School the same time as Henry Kissenger, but he didn’t graduate as a day student. He attended night school in order to work during the day and help his family out. At least that’s what I heard. (Posted by cathy on November 18, 2003 04:35 PM.)

Re: hospitals.. You make no mention of Jewish Memorial Hospital which was originally in a hard to reach spot not far from the Dykman St. Ferry. Later it moved across from Ft. Tryon Park and I beleive was demolished when the housing project cam into that area. (Posted by cathy on November 18, 2003 04:38 PM.)

After writing my comments on Jewish Memorial Hosp. I read about it under Inwood Hill Park. Thanks for the extra information. (Posted by cathy on November 18, 2003 04:46 PM.)

My family grew up in Washington Heights in the 1920’s & 1930’s on Amsterdam Ave. & 168 Street. I think most of my relatives attended George Washington H.S. Does anyone know how to track down school records that far back? (Posted by Philip Haderer on December 7, 2003 03:11 PM.)

Any info on the building at the NW corner of Ft Washington and 190th (689 Ft Wash, I believe), which I’ve seen on old maps listed as “St. Elizabeth Hospital?” (Posted by ken on December 8, 2003 11:08 PM.)

The Inwood House (of the Redeemer), originally a facility of the Magdalen Benevolent Society, still exists. Its original mission was to help prostitues rehabilitate themselves. Before leaving Inwood, the Magdalen Benevolent Society changed its name and became simply “The Inwood House.” Today they run a facility and program at East 82nd St., known as the Inwood House. For further information, check their Website. The facility they occupied in Inwood, which was subsequently used by the Jewish Memorial Hospital, was a lovely French chateau type structure that may be seen in photos and paintings from the period. The building was vacated by Jewish Memorial Hospital and torn down under orders from Robert Moses, probably to facilitate the construction of the Henry Hudson Parkway because, as Moses put it, park development was the first priority. Jim (Posted by Jim Taylor on December 13, 2003 04:06 PM.)

Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital is now a co-op. (Posted by James Renner on December 21, 2003 08:17 PM.)

My comment is directed to Pio DeVito. I would be interested in hearing from him since he attended GWHS about the same time as my uncle, Phil Simonetti. Phil Simonetti was on the 1936 Football team. I’m not sure when he graduated. Perhaps 1937. Looking forward to hear from Pio DeVito. (Posted by Philip Haderer on December 29, 2003 06:18 PM.)

Born in 1955 at Misrecordia Hospital. Was that in the Bronx at the time and the hospital was relocated to Manhattan. We lived on Post Ave., Inwood then. Maybe someone can help me out with the dates ? Thanks ! (Posted by Eileen on February 6, 2004 10:31 PM.)

I am especially interested in Pio DeVito, Philip Haderer and anyone who attended GWHS in the early 40’s. My father, Howard Myles McLaughlin, went there about that time. I never met him as he was reported missing in action (Airborne) at Bastogne in December 1944 or January 1945 in the Battle of the Bulge right after I was born. Would like to learn more about him. (Posted by Kerry McLaughlin on February 16, 2004 01:53 AM.)

Anyone remember the Robins football team? They were a semi-pro team that played their games on Sundays at GWHS during the late 40’s. Also, the Fanwoods, who played there in the late 20’s-early 30’s. My dad played for them. Anyone else have any memories of these teams. (Posted by Ira Nathanson on March 6, 2004 01:49 PM.)

I have some of the stained glass from St. Elizabeth Hospital(689 Fort Washington Avenue.) Do you know where i can get info on the original building? (Posted by barbara rubin on July 27, 2004 01:08 PM.)

Being the oldest child of three and oldest living member of my entire family, you might say I take charge of finding out family history. My late father, George Kiarulff, died at Francis Delafield Hospital on Jan. 16, 1970. I was 14 at the time. He had cancer. We lived in Toms River, NJ and didn’t see him much. My two brothers and I were just rummaging through death certificates and found our fathers. It surprised me to find no cause of death. Not even a space to enter the cause of death. Even my grandfather who died at age 29 in London in 1929 had a cause of death. We are interested in obtaining the records if possible as we have children who will benefit from any information. My mother, who suffered from severe depression could or would not offer any information before her death in 1986. If anyone knows where I can get any info. regarding his records it would be appreciated. Sincerely, Karen Kiarulff-Conway (Posted by Karen Kiarulff-Conway on November 7, 2004 07:40 PM.)

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