National Soldiers' Home Historical Marker
N 43° 01.220 W 087° 58.403
16T E 420687 N 4763532
National Soldiers' Home Historical Marker at the Zablocki VA Medical Center at 5000 W National Ave in Milwaukee, WI
Waymark Code: WM21WJ
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 08/21/2007
Views: 15
"The Wisconsin Soldiers' Home Association was formed in 1864 by a coalition of women's charitable organizations led by Lydia Hewitt, Hannah Vedder, and Mrs. E. L. Buttrick of Milwaukee. The Association raised funds to endow a hospital where sick and wounded Civil War soldiers could receive medical treatment and long-term domiciliary care. After securing a state appropriation of $5000, the Association staged a spectacular public event known as the Soldiers' Home Fair, which opened in Milwaukee on June 29, 1865, and raised more than $110,000. The proceeds from the Soldiers' Home Fair enabled the Association to purchase land and establish a hospital. In 1867, the Association transferred its property and remaining funds to the federal government for the establishment of the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Northwestern Branch. Dr. Erastus B. Wolcott of Milwaukee, the state's surgeon general during the Civil War, was appointed by Congress to head the governing board of the Home. In 1869, the noted architect Edward Townsend Mix designed the High Victorian Gothic structure "Old Main," now known as Building No. 2. The hospital was renamed the Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Administration Medical Center in 1985.
Erected 1989"
County: Milwaukee
Location: Other
MarkerID: 287
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Visit Instructions:
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