A group of costumed people pose for a photograph on the stage of an unidentified hall. James Alfred Nash, future mayor of Palmerston North, is visible in the back row. His wife, Elizabeth Nash, is in the middle of the second row from the front wearing the large dark hat. The Palmerston North Hospital was opened in 1893, made possible by agitation for a local hospital and extensive community fund raising. Prior to this the Palmerston North Borough Council sent patients to Whanganui.