Free Lecture: The Naval History of Mare Island

Dr. Tom Snyder of Vallejo, retired physician and naval medical officer, will discuss the history of the Mare Island Naval Hospital in the opening lecture of the Benicia Historical Museum 2011 series.

Mare Island, the first naval base on the west coast, opened in Vallejo in 1854 and closed in 1996. With the growth of this base, medical facilities expanded from tents to a hospital holding over 500 beds, serving from the Spanish –American War through the Korean War, including the great flu epidemic of 1918-19.