The story of Passavant Hospital really began in 1868 when Mrs. Eliza Ayers, a widow from Jacksonville, wrote to Reverand William Passavant, a Lutheran minister that had a national reputation for creating hospitals and orphanages, about donating a most valuable block of five acres on the city’s leading street.
Although it took seven years of searching to find the right solution, Eliza gave the property to Reverend Passavant in 1875, and Jacksonville Hospital (now known as Passavant Hospital) was built on East State Street.
