One New Thing#9: The World’s Largest Military Hospital - Museum Tour

One New Thing #: 9

What: Chimborazo Hospital - Richmond National Battlefield Park 

Where: 3215 E. Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23223

Cost: Free! (donations accepted)

Fave thing: Seeing another piece of history and being reminded that it doesn’t have to be a whole thing - you can pop into some museums or take a tour for as little as 15 or 30 minutes.

This past Sunday I googled “weird museums in Richmond” to see what little known place would pop up. As it turns out, there are a lot of these things around, including a hospital museum tour in Chimborazo (Churchhill). Per usual, it was one of those, “I’ve totally seen that building but never knew what it was / been inside.” 

The museum stands as a part of RIchmond’s history with the Civil War in the 1860s. Because Richmond was so close to many of the surrounding battlefields, it became the central location for a number of hospitals (13 to be exact) that treated not only those injured by war but also those who fell sick because well… it was the 1860s. 

Inside, you’ll find various medical instruments from the time, learn that chloroform was the anesthesia of choice, and that full on surgery went down with rudimentary tools. There is also a small scale replica of the over 40 acres that were considered part of this hospital system - you’ll see many of the same streets such as Broad, Main, Franklin and Route 5.  A plaque outside credited three specific women for their efforts in caring for the patients which felt significant as I went to view this on International Womans’ Day. 

It’s part of the National Park Service and comes with free admission. I don’t consider myself a history buff by any means, but learning more about Richmond and its history (the not so great parts as well), is an interesting an ongoing process.