The history of Yale-New Haven Hospital extends back to 1826 when the General Hospital Society of Connecticut was chartered as the first hospital in Connecticut and the fourth voluntary hospital in the nation. After renting temporary quarters and raising $5,000 toward the purchase of land and construction, a new 13-bed hospital opened in 1833 on seven and a half acres of land bordered by Cedar Street and Howard, Davenport and Congress avenues. The original building, called the State Hospital, was designed by prominent New Haven architect Ithiel Town and cost $13,000.