Louise Home Hospital and Residence Hall

The Louise Home Hospital and Residence Hall is an historic hospital and residence hall in Gresham, Oregon, United States. Built in 1925, it originally served as a place of residence for unwed and pregnant mothers. It also housed the disabled, and served as a women's educational institution.[1] The hospital and its surrounding 17-acre (6.9 ha) campus—surrounded by Douglas fir trees—is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

Louise Home Hospital and Residence Hall
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location in Oregon Show map of Oregon Louise Home Hospital and Residence Hall (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	722 Northeast 162nd Avenue Gresham, Oregon, U.S.
Coordinates	45°31′41″N 122°24′24″W
Area	17 acres (6.9 ha)
Built	1925
Architect	Carl H. Walworth[1]
Architectural style	Georgian Revival[2]
NRHP reference No.	87001556
Added to NRHP	September 10, 1987

Contemporarily, it is the headquarters of the Albertina Kerr Centers for Children, a mental health institution in the Portland metropolitan area.[1][3]

History

The original Louise Home was established in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon by William G. McLaren, who wanted to create awareness for unwed mothers.[1] The home is believed to have taken its name from the house's first donor, or that of the sellers of the original home.[1] The organization was run by Albertina Kerr.[1] Kerr died of typhus in 1911, after which her husband Alexander donated the home to the Pacific Coast Rescue and Protective Society.[1]

The Louise Home Hospital and Residence Hall was built in 1925 on a 17-acre (6.9 ha) plot of land in Gresham due to an increased need for boarding and medical care for unwed pregnant women, single mothers, and children.[1] The Louise Home was the center of the campus, housing unwed young women, though additional buildings served as the Albertina Kerr Nursery and the Wynne Watts School, an educational institute for women.[1] The Louise Home had its own self-sustaining farm that provided meat, dairy products, eggs, fruit, and vegetables for the residents.[1]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Multnomah County, Oregon

References

1. Keizur, Christopher (October 25, 2017). "A legacy of providing aid to the most vulnerable". The Outlook. Gresham, Oregon: Pamplin Media Group. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
2. "Asset Detail: Louise Home Hospital and Residence Hall". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
3. Hottle, Molly (April 19, 2012). "Gresham Focus: Tour of buildings becomes a living history lesson". The Oregonian. Retrieved March 26, 2018.

External links

• Historical timeline of the Albertina Kerr Foundation