History
The hospital was built in 1942, and opened on Washington's Birthday in 1943 to care for the wounded of World War II. It became the largest military hospital in the United States. Eventually, the hospital had well over 3,000 patients and over 100 separate buildings. One feature of the hospital was its design of primarily two story buildings, interconnected by corridors. There were very long ramps leading from one floor to the other, to facilitate movement of wheelchairs and gurneys. The architecture was designed by Matthew Bookler.
The exterior was all red brick. The interior was all wood. It was a maze of corridors, and newly assigned personnel regularly became lost.
The Army planned to shut down V.F.G.H. in 1950, but the Korean War began, and it stayed open. The final closing came in 1975, although it had stopped functioning as a hospital the previous year.
The site is now occupied by the Valley Forge Christian College.
Read more about this topic: Valley Forge General Hospital
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“It is the true office of history to represent the events themselves, together with the counsels, and to leave the observations and conclusions thereupon to the liberty and faculty of every man’s judgement.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
“A people without history
Is not redeemed from time, for history is a pattern
Of timeless moments.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)