St. Marys Hospital

St. Mary’s Hospital began serving Racine in 1882, when Franciscan Sisters converted a small frame building at 16th Street and Campbell Street—now Grand Avenue—into a Catholic hospital. A permanent building was completed in 1889 and enlarged repeatedly as the city grew. The hospital welcomed patients regardless of religious affiliation and also operated a nursing school from 1910 to 1927, graduating 80 nurses.
The large hospital pictured here was completed in 1933 and became a familiar Racine landmark. St. Mary’s remained at this location until 1977, when it moved to a modern medical center on Spring Street. The former hospital was then purchased by neighboring S. C. Johnson and repurposed for company operations, including use as the Louis Laboratories.