Naval Medical Center San Diego

As the United States entered World War I, San Diegans offered the nearly empty Balboa Park after the 1915 Panama–California Exposition to be used by various branches of the U.S. military for barracks and training purposes.

[2] In September 1919, city leaders set aside a 17-acre (6.9 ha) parcel at Inspiration Point in Balboa Park for use in constructing a permanent Naval hospital.

[4] During World War II, due to large numbers of casualties coming from the Pacific Theater of Operations, the hospital expanded to include most of the buildings in present-day Balboa Park.

The Lily Pond was used for swim training, the Japanese Tea Garden as a Red Cross Servicemen's Center, the House of Pacific Relations as officers' quarters and the Palisades as a Hospital Corps School named Camp Kidd.

The hospital operates clinics at area military installations, where ambulatory care is provided to the active duty population.

USN Hospital San Diego, 1944
Aerial view of the Naval Medical Center San Diego as seen in the 1950s
The hospital's administration building, built in the 1920s, was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style
A picture of the pediatrics department at the hospital