About
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Address: 300 Queen Avenue North
Neighborhood: Harrison
Construction Date: 1909-11, 1916
Contractor: Unknown
Architect: Unknown
Architectural Style: Utilitarian (hospital), Elizabethan (cottage), Bungalow
Historic Use: Public - Hospital
Current Use: Under Construction (2007)
Date of Local Designation: 1986
Date of National Register Designation: 1980
Area(s) of Significance: Social History
Period of Significance: 1909-1956
Historic Profile: In 1886 Dr. Martha Ripley, one of the few female physicians in the late 19th century, responded to exceptionally high mortality rates for women in childbirth by opening a hospital in North Minneapolis. The hospital, employing only women as physicians and board members, provided maternity services primarily for poor, unmarried and widowed women. Dr. Ripley’s progressive perspective on social services attracted a high demand, and the old hospital quickly outgrew its space. In 1909 a new site on the corner of Glenwood and Penn Avenues began to develop. The Marshall Stacy Nursery, constructed in 1909, was followed by the Babies’ Bungalow (1910) and the Emily Paddock Cottage (1911). Shortly after the death of Dr. Ripley in 1916, a large Maternity Hospital was erected on the site. The hospital operated until 1956 when it was transformed into the Queen Care Nursing Home. Loyal to Dr. Martha Ripley’s vision of social welfare, the site and building functioned as affordable housing. Rehabilitation of the site is currently underway (2007).
Photo Credits:
1925, courtesy of The Minnesota Historical Society
2007, Minneapolis CPED
Works Cited:
"National Register of Historic Places – Nomination Study," May 1979.
Updated: February 2007