After the tornado of 1896, patients were transferred to the vacant Convent of the House of Good Shepherd bounded by 17th, Chestnut, 18th and Pine streets on the western edge of downtown. The building was dark and dingy, quickly proved inadequate for the hospital. (Image from the collection of the St. Louis Building Arts Foundation.)

In 1901, the city tried to relieve the overcrowding by purchasing the Pius Hospital when it became vacant. The hospital was located at the corner of 14th and O'Fallon streets north of downtown. Subsequently, the first temporary home became known as "Emergency Hospital No. 1" and the Pius building became known as "Emergency Hospital No. 2" -- despite the fact that five years had passed since the tornado and the hasty evacuation of City Hospital. These hospitals remained in service as City Hospital until the new buildings on the original site opened in 1905. (Image from Those Hospital Days; St. Louis: Medical Society of City Hospital Alumni, 1911.)