The Lazaretto | |
Location | Wanamaker Avenue and 2nd Street, Essington, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
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Coordinates | 39°51′38″N 75°18′2″W / 39.86056°N 75.30056°W |
Area | 10 acres (40,000 m2) |
Built | 1799 |
Architectural style | Georgian and Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 72001119[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | March 16, 1972 |
Designated PHMC | October 25, 2008[2] |
The Philadelphia Lazaretto was the Second quarantine hospital in the United States, built in 1799, in Tinicum Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.[3] The site was originally inhabited by the Lenni Lenape, and then the first Swedish settlers. Nearby Province Island was the site of the confinement of the Christian Moravian Indians who were brought there under protective custody from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1763 when their lives were threatened by the Paxton Boys. The facility predates similar national landmarks such as Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital and Angel Island and is considered both the oldest surviving quarantine hospital and the last surviving example of its type in the U.S.[4]