While the East Campus of St. Elizabeths hospital is owned by the District and still in use as a mental health facility, the West Campus, built by Congress in 1852 (originally under the name Government Hospital for the Insane), was by and large abandoned by 2002. It’s still under the control of the U.S. General Services Administration, but few people these days get a chance to explore the abandoned 176 acre hospital grounds, which through time served as mental health facilities for the Army, Navy, and District of Columbia, provided a hospital for Civil War soldiers, and at one point housed the likes of Garfield assassin Charles Guiteau and writer Ezra Pound.

The West Campus of St. E’s, located at 2700 Martin Luther King Jr., Ave. SE, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990, and placed on the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites in 2005. Over the last several years, the federal government has made pains to try to bring the West Campus back to life, noting that it is the largest plot of unused federal land in the District. They now appear poised to move forward with plans to spend years renovating the buildings and land in order to install a high security complex that will house the Department of Homeland Security Headquarters and the U.S. Coast Guard.

In light of those plans, the DC Preservation League is taking small groups of residents on tours of the campus so they can get a good look at the historic buildings before they’re gone. Two of our photographers got a close-up look last weekend, and a few spots are still available for the free Nov. 15 tour. Make a reservation either by calling 202-783-5144 or emailing complete contact information to rsvp(@)dcpreservation.org.