Branches one and two

The selection of the sites for the three branches was based on three motivations: practical, political, and economic. First, the Board needed a site that could be used immediately before the second winter after the war arrived, and before the time of the November 1866 elections.
The Togus site, having been a resort, had enough and the appropriate type of buildings for housing the disabled veterans.

The Central Branch site at Dayton satisfied the powerful Ohio faction in Congress, as well as the numerous Union generals from Ohio, particularly William Tecumseh Sherman.

Branch three: Milwaukee

The Northwestern Branch at Milwaukee had been an economic success for the board, which had received a large cash donation from the Ladies Managers, enabling the Board to purchase a site and have funds left to begin construction.

The establishment of the Northwestern Branch covers the period from the site design through the construction of the first major buildings:

1. The first Hospital (Building 52,1867-68/demolished in 1960s)
2. The Governor’s House (Building 39,1867)
3. Tthe Main Building (Building 2,1867-69, 1875-67)
4. The Secretary and Surgeon’s quarters (Building 38,1867/demolished in 1985).

All other buildings from this period were ancillary structures (gate houses, tool sheds, small frame quarters, stables) and have been demolished.

The two oldest buildings on the site are the Governor’s House (Building 39) and the Main Building (Building 2); the buildings are the oldest remaining structures built for the National Home on any of the former National Home sites (20).