Protestant Deaconess Hospital
by Pat Sides
A rapidly expanding population led to the founding of two hospitals in Evansville in the 1890s. The Daughters of Charity had acquired the old Marine Hospital on the riverfront in 1870, renaming it St. Mary’s Hospital, and in 1892 the Deaconess Hospital Association was formed. Two years later, the hospital that would eventually be named Welborn Baptist opened downtown.
The new Protestant Deaconess Hospital initially served patients in a 19-bed house at Mary and Iowa streets. In 1899, the more spacious building pictured here was opened, and further growth added a fourth story in 1927.
Over the years, a sprawling hospital complex began to surround the old hospital, which was razed soon after a large new wing was erected in 1970. It was situated approximately where the Deaconess Midtown Hospital parking lot is today.
