Estes House Site - Keokuk, IA
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 40° 23.746 W 091° 23.019
15T E 637174 N 4472939
The house no longer stands, and the hospital site is now a park.
Waymark Code: WM10C2C
Location: Iowa, United States
Date Posted: 04/11/2019
Views: 2
County of hospital: Lee County
Location of hospital: 5th St. & Main St. (US 136), Keokuk
Estes Park • 5th & Main Street • Newly renovated with gazebo, gardens & sidewalk, this park was named after the Estes House which was a military hospital during the Civil War." ~ Keokuk Area Convention and Tourism Bureau
Historical Markers are in the park:
Marker one:
THE ESTES HOUSE
was used as a hospital
for Soldiers of the Civil War
April 17, 1862 - October 1, 1865
Occupied This Site
The Tablet was erected
by
The Iowa Department
Daughters of Union Veterans
of the Civil War
'61 - '65
October 1, 1929
"During the Civil War, the presence of the College of Physicians and Surgeons caused the federal government to locate a military hospital in Estes House (formerly at 500 Main Street), and four other sites in Keokuk. The sick and wounded were transported to the hospitals in Keokuk by riverboats on the Mississippi River. Many soldiers, from the North and South, died at the hospitals in Keokuk during the Civil War, and were buried in what became Iowa’s only National Cemetery. The cemetery is currently the final resting place for the remains of over 4,000 American soldiers. It is open seven days a week from dawn to dusk." ~ The Keokuk Tourism Bureau
"KEOKUK CIVIL WAR HISTORY, 154 YEARS AGO TODAY
Thursday, April 17, 1862
ESTES HOUSE COMMANDEERED BY UNION ARMY FOR USE AS MILITARY HOSPITAL
It Happened In Keokuk
Thursday April 17, 1862
ESTES HOUSE COMMANDEERED BY UNION ARMY.
"The Estes House today was commandeered by Lieutenant C.J. Ball of the 13th Infantry & Mayor Robert P. Creel of Keokuk to receive 300 wounded coming in from Pittsburgh, Tennessee.
"100 of the second story rooms were quickly finished & fitted & a rental agreement was reached with the building's owner J. Edgar Thompson through his agent. The Estes House became known As "Keokuk General Hospital" throughout the war. it was the largest of 6 hospitals set up at various locations in the city, with 625 beds.
"Within three days, two more of Keokuk's large hotels, The Simpson House & Leighton House were both commandeered by April 20th." ~ Keokuk Iowa Historians