Veterans’ Horticultural Pursuits at the Dayton National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers

Veterans living at the Dayton, Ohio, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (NHDVS) played an integral role in beautifying the 578-acre campus. Veterans reaped benefits from working on the land including improved physical and mental health, social cohesion, and occupational skills. Most importantly, tending gardens provided Veterans with a sense of purpose and pride for enhancing their facility’s appearance.

NHDVSs such as the Central Branch in Dayton were first constructed in the aftermath of the Civil War for Union Veterans unable to return to their former livelihoods. Veterans who lost limbs in battle or had lingering health issues like tuberculosis were cared for at Government institutions. NHDVSs were domiciles that provided the basics of living including housing, meals, clothing, and incidentals.

Veterans lived in military-style barracks where they were assigned to specific companies. Shared spaces on the campus like the library and recreation hall fostered camaraderie amongst the former soldiers. Dayton’s NHDVS campus also included a mess hall, two churches, a theater, and a hospital. Each NHDVS campus also had distinctive attributes such as Dayton’s live animals, grotto, and funeral tunnel.

NHDVSs were typically constructed in rural regions with plenty of acreage for farming and animal husbandry. These self-sustaining entities produced most of the institution’s food and some Veterans even assisted with agricultural production. According to the National Homes’ year-end report, between 1889 and 1890, the campus’s farm and dairy produced $26,000 worth of comestibles ($1 million in 2026). ¹ A small army of employees conducted mealtimes thrice daily for about 2,000 Veterans, including 100 waiters and 21 bakers who produced 3,000 loaves of bread per day.

Compared to agriculture, gardening was a less strenuous option that afforded more disabled Veterans an opportunity to contribute their time and energy to improving the campus. According to the American Horticultural Therapy Association, “Gardening was viewed as a meaningful and dignified occupation that promoted routine, responsibility, and emotional regulation.” ²

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, only affluent homeowners could afford formal lawns and flower gardens which were tended by a full-time staff of gardeners. Victorian-style gardening was in vogue throughout most of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. It featured a variety of styles, including floral “carpets” created with geometric arrangements, winding paths, and grottos. Civil War Veterans at National Homes planted a variety of flowers and shrubs to ensure that something was always in bloom. The grounds of Dayton’s NHDVS rivaled professional botanical gardens.

Flowers were first grown in greenhouses for Veterans’ funeral ceremonies. Around 1900, a large conservatory was added to the grounds. It featured exotic plants including palms, birds of paradise, and a banana tree. ³ Intricate gardens were situated adjacent to living spaces for residents’ enjoyment. Although the Dayton NHDVS had a professional gardener on staff, Veterans’ companies tended to assigned garden beds. This activity fostered a healthy sense of competition amongst the companies to see which one could produce the most spectacular displays. Their efforts were awarded with trophies, plaques, and bragging rights.

As public transportation improved throughout the 19th century, railroad and trolley lines stopped at the Dayton NHDVS. It was a popular destination for locals who strolled the beautifully landscaped grounds and Veterans cemetery. An estimated 1,000 visitors attended weekly concerts arranged to entertain Veterans, which were held in the campus theater or outdoor bandstand. On July 4, 1898, when 25,000 visitors attended Independence Day festivities, including fireworks, “not even a single flower was disturbed.” ⁴

Two popular sites on the Dayton National Home campus were Alligator Lake and Deer Park, each of which featured live animals. A May 1902 newspaper stated, “The alligators are out. They have grown some during the past winter.” ⁵ Deer Park contained 20 deer, a black bear, racoons, and prairie dogs. Veterans sold arts and crafts items to tourists, and the facility sold postcards, stereoscopic images, and souvenir handbooks with images of the grounds.

NHDVSs are considered the first generation of Veteran care. The Veterans Bureau, founded in 1921, was tasked with building dozens of second-generation hospitals for Veterans of World War I. After further consolidation in 1930, the Veterans Bureau transitioned to the Veterans Administration. During the 20th century, VA shifted its focus from housing Veterans to returning them to private life: “The Federal board aims to prevent the disabled soldier from becoming a charge to his community by equipping him to earn a living.” ⁶

With a lower census and less funding, some NHDVS gardens fell into disrepair. In the early 1980s, Dayton groundskeeper Charles Harper began restoring the gardens that had been neglected for several decades. One of the gardens on the Dayton campus is named in his honor. In recent years, volunteers have restored many of the gardens back to their former grandeur. This public-private partnership serves the Dayton NHDVS well by keeping the campus beautifully landscaped for Veterans and visitors alike.

1. “Short Sketch of Dayton Soldiers Home,” Views of Dayton and the Soldiers Home, 1891. ↩︎
2. American Horticultural Therapy Association https://www.ahta.org/horticultural ↩︎
3. Dayton Herald, May 3, p.10. ↩︎
4. “Soldier’s Home,” Dayton Herald, July 6, 1898, p. 4. ↩︎
5. Dayton Daily News, Dec 24, 1919, p. 5 ↩︎
6. Dayton Daily News, Dec 24, 1919, p. 5 ↩︎