National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Marion Branch, Building No. 25, 1700 East 38th Street, Marion, Grant County, IN

See HABS No. IN-306 for overview information. Additional individual building documentation in HABS No. IN-306-A through HABS No. IN-306-AR.
STORED OFF SITE AND ON SITE. mchr
Significance: Building No. 25 was built in 1929-30 as a hospital annex for the Marion Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS). This two-story structure was used to provide mental health and other medical care for the veteran residents of the campus. The NHDVS was a federal institution authorized by Congress in 1865 and charged with caring for Civil War veterans disabled by their military service. Congressman George Steele of the 11th Indiana Congressional District successfully promoted the creation of this Branch in Grant County with the promise of an on-site natural gas well for free heating and lighting. Founded in 1889 as the seventh NHDVS branch, the Marion Branch featured a picturesque campus of winding avenues and red brick Queen Anne buildings with wide porches and ornamental balustrades. By 1930 the system had eleven branches and became part of the new Veterans Administration.

In 1921, the Marion Branch became the Marion National Sanitarium, a facility dedicated to the treatment of World War I neuropsychiatric cases, including what was then called shell shock and other mental disorders. The emphasis throughout the NHDVS had been shifting from residential campuses to more sophisticated medical care for veterans. There was a large demand for the neuropsychiatric treatment offered at Marion and several new buildings were added during the 1920s. Building No. 25 was the last NHDVS building built on the campus. It continues the red brick of the neighboring structures, but is otherwise a plain L-shaped structure with simplified Georgian Revival details. It was designed by Alvin M. Strauss of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The two-story, 75-bed facility was finished in 1930 just as the Veterans Administration was created and the NHDVS properties and duties shifted to this new agency. The Marion Branch continued to specialize in psychiatric care as part of the Veterans Administration. In 1936, Building No. 25 was designated the Acute Building. The building was vacated after a modern hospital was constructed on the west side of the campus in 1997.
Survey number: HABS IN-306-R
Building/structure dates: 1929-1930 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 99000833