It was a large brick building, 150 feet by 100 feet, on a lot originally owned by former Gov. 1 was located on the west side of Fifth between Ohio and Delaware. Horsman of Rockford came to Quincy in May 1862 to visit his son and described the city as having two hospitals, one for the wounded and one for the sick. They ministered to the sick and wounded by visiting them in hospitals and taking them into their homes.

These groups supplied clothes, linens, food and bandages among other items. The Needle Pickets, an organization of Quincy women dedicated to the Union cause and founded May 31, 1861, supported the hospital and the subsequent ones that opened in Quincy, as did the Good Samaritans, also formed by Quincy women for war relief in July 1861. Communities found themselves needing a place for the wounded and supplies for their comfort and convalescence.

The start of the war found the Union woefully unprepared for casualties, lacking supplies and hospitals. Four months after the start of the war, Quincy opened its first hospital with two well-known Quincy physicians, Dr. Residents of Quincy and the surrounding area were loyal to the Union cause, hosted a great many soldiers passing through, and were known for their generosity in providing for them. Quincy's location on the Mississippi River made it an excellent port for the riverboats that brought sick and wounded soldiers from battles of the Civil War's western theater.

Civil war hospital