History of College Hill Campus
Environment | History
Environment
College Hill Campus of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is located on 25 acres of peaceful, wooded land in the Cincinnati suburb of College Hill. The residential treatment facility provides a nurturing, home-like atmosphere with a kitchen, bedrooms and private bathrooms. The facility also includes family rooms, gathering areas and game rooms for leisure. The campus contains an educational wing with library, gymnasium, a full-service cafeteria and indoor and outdoor recreation areas.
Back to Top
College Hill Campus -- A place of learning and healing for more than 150 years
 |
|---|
| View map and driving directions to the College Hill Campus. |
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center provides a glimpse of its College Hill Campus dating back more than 150 years.
1848-1873 Ohio Female College
The Ohio Female College is one of the institutions that gave the community its name, College Hill, and its character as a center of learning. It was only the fifth college in the country to provide a liberal education for women.
The original campus had three buildings and 15 acres of woods and gardens. It was home to more than 250 women pursuing their interests in higher learning. The location was touted as being "central, accessible, elevated and healthy…and sufficiently far from the city to be free from its temptations and dissipating tendencies, yet near enough to enjoy its privileges."
A fire in 1868 led to the rebuilding of the main structure. At this time, the campus ground contained a wide array of flowers and fruit orchards, a vegetable garden and a two-acre lake that fed from a natural spring, which provided opportunities for rowing and ice skating. A stable was available for keeping horses. The college could not afford to stay open and was sold to the Cincinnati Sanitarium in December 1873.
1873-1956 Cincinnati Sanitarium
"One of the largest psychiatric hospitals west of the Alleghenies," the Cincinnati Sanitarium was founded by three physicians who recognized a need for a private care psychiatric facility in Cincinnati. They purchased the 40-acre property and transformed the buildings for the treatment of mental illness and alcohol and opium addictions. In addition to the main hospital, there were four two-story cottages, an amusement hall with a billiard hall in the basement, a flower conservatory, several physical plant buildings, an ice house and even a station for the Cincinnati Northwestern railroad.
In 1913 a nearby large residence adjacent to the property was purchased. Called the "Rest Cottage," it was used in the care of individuals with "nervous and nutritional disorders." A major change in the landscape occurred in 1927 when the lake was drained.
1956-1994 Emerson A. North Hospital
In 1956, the Cincinnati Sanitarium was renamed for Emerson Arthur North, MD, a pioneer in clinical psychiatry at the University of Cincinnati. The 95-bed psychiatric hospital specialized in serving adults, adolescents and children in need of treatment for behavioral, emotional and chemical dependency problems.
During the 1960s and early 70s, Emerson A. North Hospital became part of the Cincinnati Mental Health Institute, serving as the inpatient component of the community mental health centers. A new facility was built in 1988 (Phoenix International). The hospital closed in 1994 when its services moved to Providence Hospital in Mt. Airy.
1994-2000 Phoenix International
The campus was occupied for six years by Phoenix International, a company that conducted clinical trails of drugs for the pharmaceutical industry. The clinic closed after it was sold to another company and operations were consolidated.
December 2002-Present Cincinnati Children's College Hill Campus
The Convalescent Hospital for Children and the Spaulding Foundation generously provided the funding to purchase the Hamilton Avenue property and facility for Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. The Cincinnati Children's College Hill Campus, which opened in December 2002, provides a residential treatment program for children and adolescents who suffer from chronic mental illness and impaired functioning. In addition to the Residential treatment program, the College Hill Campus also provides mental health outpatient and inpatient services.
Back to Top
