National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Marion Branch
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Marion Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Historic District
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Civil War Memorial at the Marion National Cemetery, December 2011
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| Location | 1700 E 38th St., Marion, Indiana |
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| Coordinates | 40°31′12″N 85°38′02″W / 40.52000°N 85.63389°WCoordinates: 40°31′12″N 85°38′02″W / 40.52000°N 85.63389°W |
| Area | 151 acres (61 ha) |
| Built | 1890 |
| Architect | Peters & Burns |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne, Colonial Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 99000833 |
| Added to NRHP | August 2, 1999 |
The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, Marion Branch is a historic old soldiers' home located in Marion, Indiana. The hospital, along with Marion National Cemetery were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 as a national historic district.
On July 23, 1888, with increasing membership amongst the six National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS), Congress established the seventh of ten national old soldiers' homes in Grant County, Indiana to be known as the Marion Branch. Congress allotted an appropriation of $200,000, while the Grant County residents provided a natural gas supply for the heating and lighting of this new facility. Marion, Indiana was selected as a site for the new branch due to the availability of natural gas and the political efforts of George Washington Steele.
During his last term, Colonel George Washington Steele introduced legislation for establishing a branch home in Grant County in the fiftieth session of congress, the measure coming up in December, and for seven months he watched the proceedings. Colonel Steele was not optimistic about the chances of Grant County receiving the National Home. In a letter sent to Simon Goldthwait two days before Congress approved the measure, Colonel Steele said that the bill “was in real danger.” The bill was approved by an Act of Congress and signed by President Grover Cleveland on July 23, 1888, entitled: "An Act to authorize the location of a Branch Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Grant County, Indiana, and For Other Purposes." This legislation required a tract of land of at least 200 acres (0.81 km2) with a natural gas well or wells on the site. The cost of drilling the wells was to be paid by Grant County citizens. Once the site and the gas supply were provided, the Board of Managers would begin construction within six months. The initial Congressional appropriation for the project was $200,000.
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