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The Sawtelle Veterans Home was a
care home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...
for disabled American
veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...
s in what is today part of the
Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
(see
Sawtelle, Los Angeles Sawtelle is a district in the Westside (Los Angeles County), Westside of the city of Los Angeles, California, partially within the West Los Angeles subregion. It was established in 1899 and named after a manager of the Pacific Land Company wh ...
) in
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
in the United States. The Home, formally the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, was established in 1887 on of
Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos *Ranchos, Buenos Ai ...
lands donated by Senator John P. Jones and Arcadia B. de Baker. The following year, the site grew by an additional ; in 1890, more were appended for use as a veterans' cemetery. With more than 1,000 veterans in residence, a new hospital was erected in 1900. This hospital was replaced in 1927 by the James W. Wadsworth Hospital, now known as the
West Los Angeles VA Medical Center The West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center is among a network of housing, shelter, utilities, food preparation facilities and a hospital mandated to permanently serve Veterans at the West Los Angeles VA Soldiers Home. The approximately 4 ...
.


National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers

In 1865, Congress passed legislation to incorporate the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and Sailors of the Civil War. Volunteers were not eligible for care in the existing regular army and navy home facilities. This legislation, one of the last Acts signed by
President Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation throu ...
, marked the entrance of the United States into the direct provision of care for the temporary versus career military. The Asylum was renamed the
National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers The National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers was established on March 3, 1865, in the United States by Congress to provide care for volunteer soldiers who had been disabled through loss of limb, wounds, disease, or injury during service in ...
(NHDVS) in 1873. It was also known colloquially as the Old Soldiers Home. Between 1867 and 1929, the
Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
expanded to ten branches and one sanatorium. The Board of Managers were empowered to establish the Home at such locations as they deemed appropriate and to establish those programs that they determined necessary. The Home was a unique creation of the Congress. While the Managers included, ex-officio, the President of the United States, the
Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, it was not a part of the Executive branch of government. Its budget requests in later years were submitted in conjunction with the War Department. But throughout its existence, until 1930, the Board of Managers consistently defended its independence of the Executive Branch. In 1900 admission was extended to all honorably discharged officers, soldiers and sailors who served in regular or volunteer forces of the United States in any war in which the country had been engaged and who were disabled, who had no adequate means of support and were incapable of earning a living. As formal declarations of war were not the rule in the
Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...
,
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...
specifically extended eligibility for the Home to those who "served against hostile Indians" in 1908. Veterans who served in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and
Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
were covered in 1909.


Pacific Branch

Due to increased demand as a result of widening of admission standards, in 1887 Congress approved the establishment of a Pacific Branch of the Home. The Pacific Branch was established under an act of Congress approved March 2, 1887, entitled "An act to provide for the location and erection of a Branch Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers west of the Rocky Mountains."


Land donation

The proposed establishment prompted intense competition, as local promoters recognized the value of a prominent, prestigious institution. The selected site for the Pacific Branch on land near Santa Monica was influenced by donations of land () and cash ($100,000) and water (120,000 gallons per day) from Senator John P. Jones and
Robert S. Baker Robert Sidney Baker (27 October 1916 – 30 September 2009) was a British film and television producer, who at times was also a cinematographer and director. Born in London and serving as an artillery man in the British Army, he was posted to Nor ...
, and his wife Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker. Jones and Baker were involved in the development of Santa Monica and believed the Pacific Branch would contribute to the growth of the community and the area. The Wolfskill ranch owners east of Sepulveda Boulevard, donated a tract of .


Development

The Pacific Branch opened in 1888 on of land. Prominent architect
Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in additio ...
is credited with designing the original shingle style frame barracks. J. Lee Burton designed a streetcar depot and the shingle style chapel in 1900. The Barry Hospital was built in sections from 1891 to 1909. Plantings of pines, palm trees, and eucalyptus groves transformed the site from its treeless state. Image:Sawtelle Veterans' Administration Center, Chapels, Wilshire & Sawtelle Boulevards, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County, California).jpg, Chapel. Image:SawtelleCA-SantaMonicaBlvd-1890.jpg, Street Car Image:Streetcar Depot, West Los Angeles VA Center.JPG, Street Car Depot


Administration

Although the Board of Managers established regulations for the operation of the NHDVS system and oversaw those operations, many decisions were made at the local level by local managers (who were members of the Board of Managers) or branch governors (chief administrative officers). The Branch twice became the object of local controversy, fueled by newspaper coverage. In 1889, the Board of Managers conducted an investigation of the Pacific Branch after a number of charges, including poor treatment of members, bad food, and corrupt management, were leveled. The Board found little cause for concern, as their only action was to remind the governor of the Branch of his responsibilities. In 1912, the US Senate, prompted by newspaper reports, investigated the operations of Pacific Branch but found little basis for the charges.


Other notable people

Other notable people associated with the Pacific Branch include:


Sawtelle

The Pacific Branch served as an attraction for both tourists and local real estate speculators. In 1904,
Los Angeles Pacific Railroad The Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (1896−1911) (LAP) was an electric public transit and freight railway system in Los Angeles County, California. At its peak it had of track extending from Downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, Santa Monica, an ...
's branch became a stop on the
Balloon Route The Los Angeles Pacific Railroad (1896−1911) (LAP) was an electric public transit and freight railway system in Los Angeles County, California. At its peak it had of track extending from Downtown Los Angeles to the Westside, Santa Monica, ...
– a popular tour of local attractions conducted by an entrepreneur who escorted tourists via a rented streetcar. In 1905, residential lots and larger tracts in the new Westgate Subdivision, which joined “the beautiful Soldier’s Home”, and which was owned and promoted by Jones and Baker’s Santa Monica Land and Water Company, were for sale. The new community of Sawtelle developed around the Pacific Branch when veterans’ families, as well as veterans themselves who were drawing relief, settled there.


James W. Wadsworth Hospital

Following
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, a new governmental agency, the Veterans Bureau, was created to provide for the hospitalization and rehabilitation of this much younger group of veterans. The development of medical facilities for veterans during the 1920s fueled a burst of construction during that decade, including
Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
staff residences. The James W. Wadsworth Hospital opened in 1927, replacing the Barry Hospital.


Veterans Administration

The National Home and the Veterans Bureau, were combined into the United States Veterans Administration by
President Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Grea ...
in 1930. Planning began for a major building campaign, including Mission/Spanish Colonial style hospital buildings and a group of Romanesque-inspired research buildings. The present Wadsworth hospital was constructed in the late 1930s. A new theater replaced the former Ward Theater in 1940. Most of the 1890s era buildings were demolished in the 1960s. The Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital building (VA Wadsworth Medical Center) was opened in 1977.


VA West Los Angeles Medical Center

The VA West Los Angeles Medical Center of the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System is a hospital and tertiary health care facility south of
Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...
and west of the
San Diego Freeway The San Diego Freeway is one of the named principal Southern California freeways. It consists of the following two segments: * Interstate 5, from California State Route 94 in San Diego to Interstate 405 (El Toro Y) in Irvine * Interstate 405, in ...
on the Sawtelle Campus. It provides a broad range of health care services to veterans. The largest of the VA's health care campuses, it is a part of the VA Desert Pacific Network.VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System
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References

* * Leo E. Mallonee, ''Birth and Growth of VA Center, LA'', Wiltell News, April 10, 1963, reprinted from Westways 48, June 1956. * Duncan Underhill, ''Sawtelle, Fairest of Warriors’ Retreats'', Wiltell News, April 10, 1963, reprinted from Westways 48, June 1956. * Judith G. Cetina, ''A History of Veterans' Homes in the United States: 1811–1930'', Ph.D. dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 1977. * * ''Report of The Board of Managers Of The National Home For Disabled Volunteer Soldiers'', 54th Congress, House of Representatives. (Document No. 46). Government Printing Office., Washington, 1896


External links


1900 USGS topographic map



Los Angeles National Cemetery



National Park Service Photographs and Site Map



VA Virtual Museum


* ttp://www.veteransparkconservancy.org/ Veterans Park Conservancy* {{coord , 34.058, -118.458, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Sawtelle, Los Angeles Government buildings in Los Angeles History of Los Angeles History of Santa Monica, California Old soldiers' homes in the United States 1888 establishments in California 19th century in Los Angeles West Los Angeles