The Langdon Medical Office, built circa 1857, was situated on Eastern Avenue in Cincinnati in a section called Linwood. The building, which resembles Steamboat Gothic architecture, was completely dismantled and rebuilt on its present site in the Heritage Village Museum in 1973. Dr. Henry Archer Langdon practiced medicine from 1865 to 1876 in this building. The small two-room office and its collection of medical instruments tell the story of medicine in the 19th century.

Although Dr. Langdon was educated at the Miami Medical School, a medical college, most doctors were not. 19th century medicine was practiced in the home and, consequently, there were no regular office hours. Grandmothers and mothers used home remedies passed down from generation to generation to cure most illnesses, and midwives delivered most babies. When a doctor was needed for more serious illnesses, he would normally treat his patients in their homes.

Dr. Langdon began his medical practice as a surgeon for the Union Army during the American Civil War and was officially appointed as Assistant Surgeon to the Seventy-Nineth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on August 15, 1862. On February 5, 1863, he was appointed Full Surgeon. He served under General Sherman’s command and served until the end of the war. After his Civil War service, Dr. Langdon partnered with Dr. Wesley Elstun. He purchased the practice upon Dr. Elstun’s retirement. Dr. Langdon died May 13, 1876, from a brain hemorrhage, aged 37.