Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center


The Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center is located at 4100 West 3rd Street in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1867, it is one of the three oldest facilities of what is now the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. When founded, it was known as the Central Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and it is under this name that a portion of its campus, along with the adjacent Dayton National Cemetery, was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 2012, for its role in the history and management of veterans affairs.

Campus

The Dayton VA campus is located on Dayton's west side, bounded on the north by Dayton National Cemetery, the east by South Gettysburg Avenue, the south by United States Route 35, and on the west by Liscum Drive. The expansive property includes a large number of buildings, most of which were built between about 1930 and 1960 to fulfill the VA's mission in a variety of ways. They include administrative facilities, hospital and other medical facilities, housing complexes, and landscaped grounds. A small handful of buildings remain from its earliest days.

History

In 1866 the United States Congress established the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the precursor of the VA, to provide medical and other facilities for veterans of the American Civil War. Three centers were established in the following years: the Eastern branch in Togus, Maine, the Central Branch in Dayton, and the Northwestern Branch in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Dayton facility was the administrative center of the home, and its principal commissary. The landscaped grounds of its early days included a conservatory and a small zoo, which were local tourist attractions in addition to providing restorative functions to veterans living at the facility. In 1930 the NHDVS was merged with other organizations to form the Veterans Administration, and the Dayton facilities underwent a major modernization over the following 20 years. The facilities were expanded and further modernizes in the 1980s and 1990s, most visibly with the construction of the Inpatient Tower and associated medical complex, which now dominate the western portion of the campus.
A portion of the complex, including the adjacent cemetery, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 for its significance in local and state history, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012 for its national importance in the administration of veterans affairs.
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