The Good Samaritan Hospital, the first Protestant hospital in St. Louis, was founded in 1856 and served by doctors who followed the homeopathic system of medical practice. First located in a rented house at 15th and Carr Streets, the hospital soon built a new facility at Dayton Street and Jefferson Avenue that was completed in 1861. The new building was rented to the government for the care of sick and wounded soldiers during the Civil War. The 40-room building had space for 120 patients, though at times during the war 250 soldiers were hospitalized there. In 1902 the staff was completely reorganized by the appointment of allopathic (regular) physicians. Around 1910 the hospital became the Good Samaritan Altenheim, an old folks home.