Exterior view of the Wills' Eye Hospital building constructed in 1832 after designs by Thomas Ustick Walter on the 1800 block of Race Street, opposite Logan Square. The hospital relocated to 1601 Spring Garden Street in 1932., Photographer's imprint on recto., Title printed on mount., Reproduced in The Print and Photograph Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia's Center City Philadelphia in the 19th century (Portsmouth, N.H.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 52., Arcadia caption text: In 1825 James Wills, Jr. bequeathed a portion of his estate to the city of Philadelphia for an ophthalmic hospital or asylum designated as "The Wills Hospital for the Relief of the Indigent Blind and Lame." The lot on Race Street near Nineteenth Street was purchased for $20,000 and the cornerstone of the building laid in 1832. Thomas Ustick Walter, who won the design competition, purportedly incorporated some of the design features proposed by his competitors into the final plan. In 1932, the expanded institution moved into a larger building at 1601 Spring Garden Street., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Creator
De Young's Palace Dollar Store
Date
ca. 1876
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - De Young - Hospitals [P.9212.8]
