National Register Listing

Parkland Hospital

a.k.a. Woodlawn Hospital; Old Parkland Hospital

3819 Maple Ave, Dallas, TX

Parkland Hospital at 3819 Maple Avenue was designed by the Dallas architect Hubbell & Greene. First opening in 1913 and expanded in 1921, it is the city's oldest hospital building. Parkland Hospital is locally significant and eligible for the National Register under Criterion A for Health/Medicine. Its development represented the city government's embrace of 20th-century medical practices while also attempting to elevate the city's place in the hierarchy of modern metropolises. Prior to its construction, hospitals largely functioned as sanitariums based on the miasma theory of disease. Treatments were generally passive. Hospitals did not provide treatments distinct from the home and functioned largely on removing the indigent from society. Caregivers were generally well-meaning but without professional training. Modern hospitals such as Parkland were based on the germ theory of medicine with professionally trained medical staff. Treatments were proactive and relied on modern equipment and technology. With architecture far beyond functional needs, the city of Dallas boosted Parkland to demonstrate its superiority over comparable cities. Parkland then formed a foundation and expression of the city's commitment to public health, resulting in the city's tradition of excellence in health care. Parkland Hospital is also locally significant and eligible for the National Register under Criterion A for Community Development. It served as the catalyst for co-locating other medical facilities in the Oak Lawn neighborhood as a medical center. At its peak in the 1920s, the area was known as "hospital row" and featured six major medical facilities and 17 medical clinics. It also served as the first home to Southwestern Medical College (now the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center).

Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2011.