Richmond National Battlefield Park - Chimborazo Medical Museum

Nice little museum maintained by the NPS. Has a very thorough and interesting exhibit about the Confederate medical service, which organized a massive hospital on the site of the park surrounding the building. Features a great number of artifacts, quotes from primary sources, and explanations of medical equipment and techniques available. Small shop at the front, bathrooms. The ranger highlighted a panoramic view of Richmond in the man room, which he stated must have been taken shortly after the evacuation of the city by the Confederates — the “haze” visible is smoke from the fires started to destroy supplies.

Love visiting museums! This one is a small one but a good one! Staff was friendly and offered knowledgeable information about the history in the area. 🙌 Really unique medical artifacts and military history. And beautiful old building that is the visitor center! 🌳

This place has such rich history of the medical side of the war. It is free and self guided, however the gentleman working gave some great history lessons. There is a nice short video you can watch along with a little gift area. Highly recommend! Afterwards walk around the little park for some additional history.

Very informational stop In Richmond. We were the only ones to have stopped in so far that day and were able to chat and socialize with two park staff, making the experience unique. Glad they made this visitor center still accessible during the freezing weather.

Nice little museum. Visited in December between Christmas and New Years. There is a small parking lot next to the building that we missed when first turning in. It's hidden behind hedges. There were a few exhibits in 2 rooms and the highlight was a large diorama of what the hospital looked like and the 20 min video. There aren't any of the original buildings remining. Spent maybe 1 hr here which included the video with 3 kids, 13, 10 and 7. Small park store front and has junior ranger program with badge. It took more time do the junior ranger program than reading all the exhibits. Would probably not visit again and wouldn't suggest anyone go out of their way to visit unless truly interested or in it for the cancellation stamp collecting which is what we did.

Was able to get my National Park pass here. The Rangers were very friendly and helpful. Parking wasn’t bad and the park it self is beautiful.

What a fascinating place! Enjoyed our visit to this museum. Great displays and very knowledgeable staff.

I recently discovered that my great great great uncle died here from disease. I read about the hospital and thought I would go visit it one day. Had to go to Richmond and just happened to pass this and HAD to stop. I plan to come back with my sister and actually see and learn the full history. I look forward to adding to this review. (Government shutdown was in full force so I couldn't go in)

This historic visitor center has a short film that tells some interesting medical history about the hospital that was once here and about the overall environment of trying to practice medicine before modern science had really entered the fray. The handful of artifacts on exhibit won't take a ton of time afterwards. It's interesting content but more of a diversion for the interested than a destination for the undecided.

The starrrrr of the show was the national park ranger that ran the building. I seriously wish I could remember his name. We absolutely enjoyed this museum. It was small but very informative! Thousands of Confederate wounded were treated in a range of makeshift hospitals hastily established in hotels, factories and private homes, but it became clear a war of this magnitude required a modernized medical response. Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, Virginia Samuel P. Moore, the Confederate surgeon general, secured the facilities and personnel at Chimborazo (the site got its name from Mount Chimborazo, an inactive volcano in Ecuador). Occupying 150 buildings, it typically served around 4,000 soldiers at a time. It treated 75,000 soldiers. It would prove to be among the world's most efficient, modern, and sanitary hospitals of the period. Dr. James B. McCaw was in charge of running the facility. McCaw organized Chimborazo into 5 divisions, each with its own surgeon-in-chief. The complex also included bathhouses, ice houses, carpentry and blacksmith shops, a soap manufactory, a stable, a chapel, an apothecary shop, a bakery that produced 10,000 loaves daily, a brewery that produced 400 kegs of beer at a time, and 5 dead houses, 1 for each division. Chimborazo maintained a vegetable garden on a nearby farm, along with goats and cows. McCaw even secured a canal boat to travel the James River, bringing provisions from as far away as Lexington. McCaw relied heavily on slaves, free blacks and women to keep the hospital running. They helped feed soldiers, wrote letters for them, administered medicine, organized the kitchens, enforced discipline, and generally tried to be a constant friend to the sick soldiers. The facility was converted after the war into a freedmen's school. Opened in June 1865, it served hundreds of African-American students. Today Richmond National Battlefield Park uses one portion of the hill for its "Chimborazo Medical Museum," which is housed in a 20th century building atop the site of the historic hospital.

This building is not the original hospital. You can watch a short film here to know more about the medical history about the original hospital. There is also a small exhibit inside. Very friendly staff.

My family and I visited while on a road trip. Had some cool medical artifacts and a neat short film that really explained what happened at this sight. Even though the museum is not an original building it does house a diorama of what the hospital looked like based off an original map and original photos. The park ranger that was on staff, I do not remember her name, provided a plethora of information.

This is not a big museum, but it is a free museum. The staff there were lovely and more than willing to explain details so that adults and even young children could understand what happened on that site. There are some interesting artifacts, but the highlight was looking at the model of the surrounding area, and understanding how the transfer of power occurred when the two armies came together. Looking the model, and then walking outside to see how nothing remains of what once was was very impactful.

Was looking forward to this, showed as open but was closed? No hours, info, or staff on site for direction. Will try again some other time.

Went there but was like a 10-30 min max thing to do. It is basically one small room with some artifacts and things to read. There is a diorama that was interesting and there was a nice park ranger answering questions if you wanted. He was chatty to the person who was there before us and we went in another room and he was then chatty with people who came after us. Tiniest if gift shop a couple shelves and a table is there. I thought there was a battlefield attached but not. There's just grass. Roads were blocked off for something so maybe I missed something I don't know. I think, according to the diorama, the whole area, where the houses were etc was part of the battlefield. Looks like they built the city on it save 40 small acres. Anyway unless in the area, I'd not go out of my way for this. It was too small (16 min of your 30 max time is a movie).

For the medical nerd, this is a definite place to stop. Can't get a better admission price (free museum) for history. It's amazing what technology they used back in the days of the civil war, for amputations to immunizations to even dental care. There's a short 18 minute video giving a good synopsis of the events and historical importance of Chimborazo. The park ranger working there was friendly and quite informative. Check out the medical instruments, the chloroform sniffers, belted tourniquets and the whiskey bottles they used and abused.

Another historical freebie to see, the medical museum has artifacts from the Confederate Chimborazo Hospital atop Chimborazo Hill. It was one of the largest Civil War hospitals, and in 1874, the city acquired the 40-acre tract and turned it into a park and museum. Even if you don't do the museum segment, this is a gorgeous park with incredible views and a great place to bring your dog.

Very very very very very informative! The ranger(s) that were there were very kind and even put on the 15-minute film about the Chimborazo hospital to see. Me and the ranger (he wasn't even a ranger he was a former medical professor that was working as a volunteer) talked for about 2 hours and he explained the civil war side, stuff about the battlefields in the surrounding area, stuff about WW1 and WW2 field hospitals, how this famous and also the largest hospital in the confederacy got its name, (It was named after a dormant volcano in Ecuador!) and many other stuff. Bottom line is... This is a MUST-SEE for anyone touring Richmond National Battlefield, anyone who is a tourist in the richmond-area, or anyone who just happens to drive-by the museum. If I have to suggest something to the park service, it would be to expand the museum collections and possibly move the Headquarters to your visitor center at Tredegar Iron Works (Another NPS-related treasure of Richmond!!!) Also, the ranger suggested this primary-source book written by a southern woman employed by the hospital during the civil war. The name of the book is "A Southern Woman's Story" by Phoebe Yates. (During the civil war, women and slaves worked at the hospital.) You will be amazed at what you will discover here at the Chimborazo Medical Museum!