Pine Camp: From Tuberculosis Sanitorium to Community Center

Today, Richmond Parks & Recreation operates Pine Camp in the northern suburbs of Richmond. In the late 19th century, this area was known as the City Farm or City Jail Farm. It included a small house and a cemetery, and the crops grown there fed inmates in the jail and the almshouse from 1866 to 1909. 

As Richmond’s population began to dramatically increase during the industrial growth of the late 1800s and earIy 1900s, city officials looked for ways to stop the spread of contagious diseases within the densely populated city. In the early 1900s, the city used the original farmhouse at Pine Camp to isolate Richmonders with contagious diseases, including smallpox. In 1905, a new house was built on the property to house white patients while the old house became an isolation ward for Black patients. Both Black and white patients who died at Pine Camp were buried in the cemetery on the property.  

In the late 1800s, tuberculosis, a contagious and often deadly lung disease, was a major problem in Richmond. The crowded factories and living conditions in the industrial city made it easy for the disease to spread. 

After the city government failed to address the issue, private citizens and local hospitals took on the responsibility themselves.

Frances Branch Scott, founder of Sheltering Arms Hospital, organized a meeting in her home in 1909 to address the lack of quality treatment for tuberculosis patients in Richmond. The Tuberculosis Camp Society was formed to bring awareness to the disease and create a place where patients could experience the latest open-air treatment plan.   

The city gave the Tuberculosis Camp Society a portion of land in the northwest corner of the City Farm, and they built an administration building and another structure that could house 20 patients. Privately funded by the society, the Pine Camp Home opened in November of 1910 with Giles B. Cook as its chief physician and Florence Black as its chief nurse. The location for this “whites only” treatment center at the end of the Ginter Park streetcar line was ideal because it was easily accessible, but away from the city’s dirty air, allowing patients to breathe cleaner air.  

By 1916, the Tuberculosis Camp Society, now the Pine Camp Tuberculosis Hospital Association, could not raise enough money to support the facility, and they transferred the property to the city. The administrators of the city almshouse, City Home, became responsible for operating Pine Camp under the Richmond Department of Public Health.

The city asked local architectural firm Carneal and Johnston to design a plan to expand the Pine Camp facilities in the early 1920s to include several new buildings and a road that encircled the entire complex. The facility added a new administration building and two new infirmaries with 24 beds each as well as a heating plant and a garage/laundry building. By 1923, they had expanded their still segregated facility to serve 84 patients.

By 1930, the need for services at Pine Camp was growing, leading to plans for expansion to include care for children and Black patients. The Central Building, completed in 1932, increased its capacity to 150 patients. In 1936, the Works Progress Administration helped build an infirmary for 56 Black patients. This addressed a critical need as only one other sanatorium in Virginia served Black patients at the time.

Pine Camp continued to grow, reaching a capacity of 220 beds by 1950. During this decade, the introduction of a new antibiotic treatment cut the time needed for tuberculosis treatment in half, leading to a decline in the facility’s need. By 1957, Pine Camp was closed, and existing patients were moved to the City Home.

After the closure, the city explored various options for the land, including a juvenile detention center, elderly housing, or selling the property. Ultimately, in the early 1960s, it was developed into a community recreation center.

Sources

Gibson Worsham (May 2002). “National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Pine Camp Tuberculosis Hospital”. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 

“Piney Camp Home is opened today.  Tuberculosis conference here this week.” Richmond News  Leader 28 Nov. 1910, p. 8. 

“ New $25,000 Negro unit completed.” Richmond News Leader 22 Oct. 1936.   

“Pine Camp—after 40 years service to city – may be heading for moth balls.” Richmond News Leader 29 Dec. 1956.  

“Patients Transferred to City Home.” Richmond News Leader, 13 Nov.1957. 

“Former tuberculosis center home for arts, crafts classes.” Richmond Times-Dispatch, 19 September 1983. 

“Pine Camp: Gaining ground.” Richmond Times-Dispatch, 10 Nov. 2000.