The Confederacy established a hospital for wounded soldiers at Howard's Grove in 1862. It was reassigned in 1870 to the treatment of "colored persons of unsound mind" and was the first to offer treatment exclusively to the black population of Virginia. Dorothea Dix visited the hospital in 1875, during her travels for mental health reform, and donated pictures and musical instruments.

The Confederacy established a hospital for wounded soldiers at Howard's Grove in 1862. It was reassigned in 1870 to the treatment of "colored persons of unsound mind" and was the first to offer treatment exclusively to the black population of Virginia. Dorothea Dix visited the hospital in 1875, during her travels for mental health reform, and donated pictures and musical instruments.