St. Elizabeths Hospital, Relief, 2700 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, Southeast 518-542 Redwood Drive, Southeast, Washington, District of Columbia, DC

For an overview of the Detached Group, see HABS DC-349-BX
Significance: Relief (Building 32) is significant for its association with the treatment of mental illness on the St. Elizabeths Campus. As one of the largest buildings included in the expansion of the patent housing facilities beyond the original Center Building group (Buildings 1 through 8) in the 1880s and 1890s, Relief formed an integral part of the function and use of the campus for the treatment of mental illness and related disabilities. Upon its completion, Relief functioned as a new patient ward building commissioned to relieve the hospital of overcrowding.

Relief is also significant for its architectural design. The building includes typical design features of the late nineteenth century buildings on the campus, including broad wrap-around wood-framed porches, eclectic masonry detailing, and building massing with many projecting bays. The interior planning of Relief is also a significant aspect of its architectural design. The building combines the private bedroom plan used in the Center Building group with the open dormitory plan first used in Atkins Hall (Building 31). Each wing of each floor of the building housed a separate patient ward. Thus, the symmetry and separation of spaces was integral to the design.
Survey number: HABS DC-349-AP
Building/structure dates: 1879-1890 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 79003101