Mountain Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers

The Mountain Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers was an old soldiers' home opened in 1904 in Mountain Home, Johnson City, Tennessee. It was one of eleven branches of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS), a federal system created in the waning days of the American Civil War to provide support for Union Army veterans. The Mountain Branch was established in 1901 through the efforts of Congressman Walter P. Brownlow, with land purchased soon after enabling legislation was signed. Major development took place between then and 1903, when the unfinished facility opened its doors. The campus was designed by New York City architect Joseph H. Freelander, a proponent of the Beaux Arts style, and landscape designer Carl Andersen. The many surviving buildings that make up the core of the present VA campus are in the Beaux Arts style. The complex received notice in architectural publications, including criticism that it was overly exotic for its comparatively rural location. The NHDVS was absorbed into the Veterans Administration (now the United States Department of Veterans Affairs) in 1930, at which time another round of construction took place. A third major round of building occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, after the VA developed a master plan for the site. The Mountain Home National Cemetery was established in 1903, in a manner similar to other national cemeteries located adjacent to NHDVS facilities. Most of the surviving campus continues to be used by the Department of Veterans Affairs as the James H. Quillen VA Center. The campus was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2011, as a well-preserved example of an early 20th-century veterans care facility.

The Mountain Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers was an old soldiers' home opened in 1904 in Mountain Home, Johnson City, Tennessee. The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) was created by the United States federal government in the waning days of the American Civil War, as a means to provide needed support for Union Army veterans of the war. Between 1865 and 1930 a total of eleven branches of this service were founded. The Mountain Branch was established in 1901 by the NHDVS through the efforts of Congressman Walter P. Brownlow. Land for the campus was purchased soon after the enabling legislation was signed, and major development took place between then and 1903, when the unfinished facility opened its doors. The campus was designed by New York City architect Joseph H. Freelander, a proponent of the Beaux Arts style of architecture, and landscape designer Carl Andersen. The many surviving buildings that make up the core of the present VA campus are in the Beaux Arts style. The complex received notice in architectural publications, including criticism that it was overly exotic for its comparatively rural location. The NHDVS was absorbed in the Veterans Administration (now the United States Department of Veterans Affairs) in 1930, at which time another round of construction took place. A third major round of building occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, after the VA developed a master plan for the site. The Mountain Home National Cemetery was established in 1903, in a manner similar to other national cemeteries located adjacent to NHDVS facilities. Most of the surviving campus continues to be used by the Department of Veterans of Affairs as the James H. Quillen VA Center. Its site has since been taken over by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and is home to the Mountain Home National Cemetery and the James H. Quillen VA Center. Also known as the Mountain Home, its campus was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2011, as a well-preserved example of an early 20th-century veterans care facility.

• 2011

  Campus designated a National Historic Landmark District.

• 1970

  Third major round of building occurred in the 1970s and 1980s after the VA developed a master plan.

• 1930

  NHDVS absorbed into the Veterans Administration; another round of construction took place.

• 1904

  The unfinished facility opened its doors.

• 1903

  Mountain Home National Cemetery established; major campus development completed.

• 1901

  Mountain Branch established by the NHDVS through the efforts of Congressman Walter P. Brownlow.

A historic federal veterans care facility and National Historic Landmark District.

• Residential care for disabled veterans

• Medical and hospital services

• National cemetery

1. 1Mountain Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Mountain Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers - Wikidatawikidata.org