Built in 1856 (Gothic Revival). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. 15 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1891.
From the record
“The Smallpox Hospital, sometimes referred to as the Renwick Smallpox Hospital and later the Maternity and Charity Hospital Training School, was a hospital located on Roosevelt Island in Manhattan, New York City. Originally designed by architect James Renwick Jr., the 100-bed hospital opened in 1856, when the area was known as Blackwell's Island.”
Wikipedia article Smallpox Hospital, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 601 National Register listings published here for New York County · listed in 1972 · category: Building · built in 1856, Gothic Revival, by James Renwick Jr..
National Register reference number.72000881- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1891 to 1995
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
104 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
18911995
Fires near this property
1,650 since 1995
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 1,650 fires within 5 miles of Smallpox Hospital
between 1995 and 2020, burning about 453 acres in total. 104 started naturally. 105 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
1073
Smoking
118
Arson/incendiarism
105
Natural
104
Equipment and vehicle use
76
Misuse of fire by a minor
62
Debris and open burning
60
Fireworks
23
Recreation and ceremony
16
Power generation/transmission/distribution
6
Railroad operations and maintenance
5
Other causes
2
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
11 workings within 5 miles of Smallpox Hospital: 8 occurrences, 3 past producers.
None of them still produces. What was taken out: Iron, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Garnet, Gemstone. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
New York, the town this property stands in, in 44 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 16 flash flood, 16 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 4 flood.
The reports record 7 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
Windows were blown out at the Rector Place and Gateway Plaza. Numerous trees were knocked over. There was damage to the revolving door at The Solaire in River Terrace.
Numerous trees were reported down along South End Avenue, especially between Albany and Liberty Streets. Eight trees fell into Merchant's River House, damaging the outdoor seating area.
The north tube of the Holland Tunnel in Manhattan was closed due to flooding at the New Jersey-bound entrance. Two cars also became stuck in flood waters on 10th Ave. in the West Village.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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