Soldiers Home
of Dayton, Ohio

History of the Soldier's Home

Early administrators were not content to provide merely living quarters for the disabled veterans. From the outset, officers and administrators sought to provide religious, intellectual and recreational activities for the men in residence. The grounds were initially laid out by Chaplain Thomas B. Van Horne and were maintained by the veteran patients. Lakes surrounded by miles of strolling paths and scenic walks provided a pastoral setting for rehabilitation and relaxation. For more than 80 years, the facility and its lavishly landscaped grounds were a showplace and attracted over 350,000 visitors per year.

The hospital of the Central Branch was the first hospital completed in Montgomery County, dedicated in May of 1870. The Home Hospital was a marvel of innovative and progressive design with interior steam operated elevators, indoor plumbing and steam heat.

The Protestant Chapel was started in 1868 and was completed soon after the hospital dedication in 1870. Built of stone quarried on the property and built by the veterans themselves, the Chapel is the first religious structure paid for by the Federal Government. The first chaplain, William Earnshaw, was an early leader taking and active part in the workings of the home. Earnshaw was the first librarian, at first gather in a collection of military history books. In October 1868, Earnshaw announced the donation of a large library by Mrs. Mary Lowell Putnam of Massachusetts. By the turn of the century, the Patients' Library ranked among the best and most heavily used libraries in the state.

Ten years after its founding, by 1877, the facility had been transformed into a city with 132 buildings, many of which had running water, steam heat and gas lighting. There were six and one-half miles of road, two miles of gravel walkway, many wells and four lakes. The facility also boasted a 250 acre farm which provided much of the produce consumed by the patients.

In July 1930, the National Soldiers Home system was dismantled and consolidated into the newly formed Veterans Administration. A new hospital, Col. Edwin Brown Hospital, named for an early administrator of the site, was dedicated in 1931 replacing the old Home Hospital. An extensive construction program resulted from the depression and the government program of public works. Many of the frame and brick buildings dating from the earliest years of the Central Branch were razed to make way for a new mess hall, and new domiciliary buildings. Among the changes, the old snorers barracks, used to accommodate "loud sleepers" disappeared. All in all, several million dollars were spent renovating the grounds and constructing new buildings through this period.

Patrick Hospital, originally built in 1940 as a domiciliary, was converted to a geriatric hospital in 1950. The Dayton VA Medical Center was among the early Veterans Administration providers of nursing home care as mandated by an executive order signed by President John Kennedy.

Since 1974, the Dayton VA Medical Center has been affiliated with the Wright State University School of Medicine. The VA currently serves as the principal teaching hospital for Wright State University's Department of Medicine and as a major contributor for the Departments of Surgery, Dermatology, and Neurology. The VA is also affilicated with the University of Cincinnati for residency training in Psychiatry.

In 1989, the Veterans Administration was yet again re-named and restructured by presidential action. Today, the Dayton VA Medical Center is part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and provides care for veterans in a multi-county area of Ohio and Indiana. The Medical Center is located on over 300 acres of land and the facility includes a general medical, surgical and psychiatric hospital; a nursing home; and domiciliary. Comprehensive medical programs in medicine, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, rehabilitative medicine and dentistry are available to today's veterans.