Milwaukee's Lincoln Legacy

 The National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers was established by Congressionallegislationand approved by President Lincoln on March 3, 1865. Milwaukee was designated as the site of the NorthwesternBranch, one of the three original branches in December, 1866 (1). The name of the institution was changed to the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in 1873. In 1930, the National Home was one of the agencies providing veteran’s benefits that was consolidated into the Veterans Administration.

Planning for the Northwestern Branch began in May 1867, when the Board of Managers of the National Asylum sent Chaplain Thomas Van Home to Milwaukee to arrange the grounds (2). Construction of the original four buildings began in the fall of 1867.

Two of the first four structures remain and are in the historic district:

the Main Building
(Building 2, 1867-1869
and 1875-1876)...

...and the Governor’s House
(Building 39, 1867-1868).

Van Home’s plan for the grounds remains virtually intact in the existing roadway system and in the prominence of the Main Building as the focus of the entire site. The majority of buildings within the district that were used by the members of the Northwestern Branch were built between 1879 and 1895; numerous quarters for staff were built between 1887 and 1921. In 1933, a hospital annex (Building 43) was erected in the district.

 The National Home Historic District consists of approximately 150 acres of rolling terrain characterized by a series of high bluffs facing the river valley with deep ravines between the bluffs. The elevation of the north portion of the district (north entrance and cemetery) is highest at the Blue Mound entrance and is lowest at the cemetery, which was originally on the north side of a ravine that is now marked by the right-of-way of 1-94. 

New! Souvenirs and wearables with the original insignia of the
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers
are available in our store.

NEXT>>>