A group to fund the construction of the hospital began in 1895.[1] Morgan and Josephson Architects were appointed to design the buildings and the foundation stone was laid in 1897 by Governor Hampden.[2] Consisting of two buildings, one facing Lilydale Street and another one behind, the hospital was opened in 1899[3] as Marrickville Cottage Hospital. That same year, the hospital proper opened, and was renamed Marrickville District Hospital in 1922. An isolation wing was added to the rear block in 1902 and a second building was constructed on the front block in 1905. The two buildings on the front block were joined by the addition of a square tower over the entrance facing Lilydale Street in 1913.[4] Matron Helen Beattie ran the hospital for 32 years, until her retirement in 1935.[5] Nurses trained here included Edna Shaw who became known as the "Mother of 100,000 babies".[6]
By the 1970s a lack of funding saw declining usage for the site, and in 1990, the hospital closed its doors, and has remained empty since.
