This card was never used. On the back, this information is included about the Marine Hospital:

U. S. MARINE HOSPITAL, NORFOLK, VA, is one of the finest of its kind, and is located on the Lafayette River on the edge of a beautiful residential section. The United States Public Health Service had its actual inception in Norfolk, April 20, 1801, when Governor James Monroe of Virginia signed a deed transferring to the U. S. Government a fairly large building situated at Washington Point, in Norfolk, for use as the first Marine Hospital of the United States.

While the card has no postmark to tell us its age, according to Mashburn's The Postcard Price Guide, A Comprehensive Reference, the Linen Era postcards were produced between 1930-1945. The paper has a linen-like texture, which gives this type of card a distinctive appearance.

Click here to learn more about the U. S. Marine hospital in Norfolk, from the Norfolk Public Library.

From Abebooks: Wish You Were Here: Postcard Reminiscences of a Bygone Day: the Chesapeake Bay Country