According to the “Twin Peaks Access Guide to the Town,” Calhoun Memorial Hospital is located at the corner of Lynch Road and Falls Avenue in Twin Peaks. In reality, the building’s exterior was shot in Tukwila, Washington. As the sun was setting on October 11, 2019, I dashed over to grab a few updated location photos of the hospital exterior.
WHERE IS CALHOUN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL EXTERIOR LOCATED?
The building location is found at 12844 Military Road South in Tukwila, Washington. The approximate coordinates are 47°29’12.8″N 122°17’47.2″W.
The Google Maps image above shows the approximate location where the establishing shot was captured.
Complete credit is given to Charles from the former InTwinPeaks.com for first posting about the location several years ago. His post about this film location (at the bottom of this article) is one reason why I started this blog. More on that in a moment but first, let’s take a look at the history of this spot.
HISTORY OF RIVERTON HOSPITAL
Tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in Seattle, Washington during the first part of the 20th Century. As a result, specialized hospitals were constructed throughout King County to combat this highly-infectious plague.
One of these hospitals was Riverton Sanitarium that opened in 1928 on 43-acres along Military Road. Richard McLeland-Wieser discussed this spot in a 2016 article in the Tukwila Reporter:
“With no cure for consumption, as TB was commonly called, treatment included fresh air, wholesome food and bed rest. With Swiss chalet style cottages, winding paths and well-manicured grounds, the Sanitarium resembled a vacation spa more than a hospital. As patients could spend years recuperating, Tukwila’s rural, idyllic setting was just what the doctor ordered.”
By the 1940s, doctors had discovered a way to treat and control tuberculous, so the hospital was no longer needed.
In 1961, Riverton Sanitarium was sold and “the cottages, water tower and support buildings were torn down and replaced with a modern hospital.” Ownership changed over the years and the hospital was eventually expanded.
Around the time Charles first posted about the location in 2011, it was home to Highline Medical Center.
Acadia Healthcare purchased Highline Medical Center’s Specialty, according to an article by Page Cornwell in the Seattle Times on January 14, 2014.
Today, When I visited in October 2019, the location was an office for Cascade Behavioral Health. That company closed in July 2023 and about a month later, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) finalized an agreement to lease and purchase the former Cascade Behavioral Health facility.
According to a Medium article on August 10, 2023, DHSH purchased the health hospital for $29.9 million planned on adding about 100 beds. The department would take a phased approach of making the beds available to patients.
“The department will officially take possession of the building Aug. 15, and will work toward moving in civilly committed patients from the state hospitals in the near future, which frees capacity at the state hospitals for people in jail awaiting competency services.
Before patients are transferred into the new hospital, DSHS will make maintenance upgrades, including the addition of interior cameras on the wards and installing the appropriate IT infrastructure.”
MILITARY ROAD IN TUKWILA, WASHINGTON
There is another interesting piece of history connected to this spot. Military Road was a section of the Fort Steilacoom–Fort Bellingham Road. It was part of a network of Military Roads constructed in the Pacific Northwest under the supervision of the U.S. Army in the 1850s.
George B. McClellan, Joseph Hooker and Ulysses S. Grant were among other future Civil War generals assigned to the Pacific Northwest as junior officers in the 1850s, a number of whom were involved in Military Road construction. The first telegraph line in Washington Territory was also strung along the length of the Road in 1864.
You can download this PDF brochure to see Seattle’s connection to the U.S. Civil War.
Now I’m beginning to better understand Ben Horne’s Civil War fantasy in Season 2 (though I think most of it was included because Ken Burn’s outstanding documentary on the war was popular at the time).
WHY IS THE HOSPITAL NAMED CALHOUN MEMORIAL?
According to a Daily Mail article from March 23, 2017, the hospital was named after Mark Frost’s grandparents, Douglas and Betty Calhoun.
“Frost, whose family home on Big Bowman Pond in Taborton has since been sold, used other real-life stories from the area in Twin Peaks and called the town’s medical center, where much of the action is set, the Calhoun Memorial Hospital – after his grandparents.
His grandfather Douglas Calhoun was a doctor and, in another twist, Frost cast his own actor father Warren Frost as kindly physician Will Hayward and turned him into a star.”
CALHOUN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL EXTERIOR
The exterior location is only seen three times in Twin Peaks – episodes 1.001, 2.001 and 2.002. The first shot is actually a nighttime shot from Episode 1.001.
There are a few differences today such as the exterior building color and the satellite dish is long gone.
The trees and landscaping around the building have also changed, and they added a vehicle clearance bar.
But some items from this location haven’t changed.
Look at the lamp in the red circle. The same lamps were still found at the site in 2019!
Here are closer looks at two lamps that also appear in the series. Amazing!
INTWINPEAKS.COM – THE REAL CALHOUN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
As mentioned, here is the post from InTwinPeaks (click on the image to enlarge). It’s remarkable what Charles did to find this location. His excitement is something I feel when identifying locations.
The best part is the end when he thanks several members from the Twin Peaks community for helping him. That’s what I enjoy the most about this fandom – my fellow Bookhouse Boys and Blue Rose Task Force Members.
