Seton Infirmary, Austin - Historical Notes

A chapter in Austin's medical history is about to come to close as the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who have been involved in Austin's hospital community for over a century, announced they will depart the city for new assignments next year.  The nuns first arrived in Austin to run the Seton Infirmary, which was chartered by the State of Texas in 1900 and opened in 1902.  As the Infirmary has been a topic of my past research, I thought I'd write up a little something on it to mark this end of an era.

The original Seton Infirmary (named for the founder of their order, St. Elizabeth Seton) was a four-story red brick building located on 26th Street between Nueces and Rio Grande Streets, in what is now the West Campus neighborhood.  The site can be seen slightly northwest of the university in this 1919 map of Austin in the collection of the Texas State Library.  It was designed by St. Louis architect Rockwell Milligan in the "Southern Colonial" style.  When first opened, it contained 40 beds, although that was expanded to 75 beds by 1914.  The top floor served as a nursing school.  It was demolished in 1975 when Seton's base of operations moved to its current location on West 38th Street.