The first St. Louis City Hospital was built on the site of the Georgian Condominiums in 1846, but the original structure was completely destroyed by fire in 1856. City officials quickly ordered the erection of a second hospital, which opened its doors one year later in 1857, and remained until 1896 when the ‘Great Cyclone’ passed through the city completely destroying the hospital.
As the city of St. Louis rose in prominence in the late 1890’s, becoming one of the nation’s largest cities, a new hospital was necessary. City planners hired famed architect Albert Groves of the architectural firm Grable, Weber, & Groves to design the Georgian Revival Style structure that has been a landmark on Lafayette Avenue since 1912.
The new City Hospital, occupying again the site of the wrecked institution operated until it closed in 1985. The building escaped demolition when, in 2001, the structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. This historic structure once again stands proudly in it's transformed beauty as
The Georgian Condominiums.
Dr. Starkloff served as the St. Louis City Health Commissioner from 1895-1903 and 1911-1933. In response to the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918-19, he was ahead of his time in taking measures such as closing public venues and prohibiting gatherings of more than 20 people; learn more in this
St. Louis Post Dispatch article. He is also credited with making the City Hospital a state-of-the-art institution in it's time. After his death, the City Hospital was renamed the Max Starkloff Memorial Hospital.
