Minneapolis Journal photo

To 21st-century eyes, newspapers of the 19th century are a quaint mix of dainty and unvarnished language. A fatal hotel fire is a “lamentable occurrence”; a University of Minnesota loss to Grinnell on the gridiron is an exhibition of “unpardonable incompetence.” A coup attempt in Afghanistan is “endeavoring to excite insurrection”; and, in the story below, a resident of the Minneapolis Soldiers’ Home is an “inmate.” An inmate! Makes “refugee” sound downright warm and fuzzy, doesn’t it?

The Minnesota Legislature authorized establishment of the veterans home in 1887, as a “reward to the brave and deserving.” Construction began the next year. The photo above, taken about 1900, shows the entrance to the hospital at the home. It might be the three-story addition mentioned at the end of this Minneapolis Tribune article.

CHEERED UP THE VETS

A Party of Light-Hearted Girls Visit
      the State Soldiers Home and Dif-
      fuse a Few Rays of Sunlight in the
      Lives of the Inmates.

A party of university co-eds, attended by their escorts, visited the Soldiers’ Home Sunday afternoon and succeeded in rousing the ebbing spirits in the heart of many an aged veteran. The hospital wards were entered, and the young ladies undertook to cheer up the patients. “How long have you been at the Home?” “Are you very sick?” and “Do you get good care?” were asked of the sufferers. It was pleasant to see the brightening eye of a bed-ridden man as he answered questions put to him. Invariably the young ladies were invited to come again.

In the other buildings the inmates seemed anxious to show the visitors through their apartments, and readily answered questions relating to the gonverment of the Home. The rooms, for the most part large and well lighted, are comfortable though plain. Many of the soldiers expressed themselves as well satisfied with their accommodations, and said they had a better table than the average boarding house in the city. The culinary department was carefully inspected, and the cook plied with questions as to the food given the soldiers. The bill of fare was found to be substantial. The only thing which any of the inmates found fault with was the requirement that a portion of their pensions be paid over for their support, but the soldiers admitted that since they were well cared for at the Home they had little use for money.

The annual cost of running the Home is about $65,000, obtained during the past year as follows: $20,000 annual appropriation from the state, $21,127 per capita allowance from the United States, $7,685 pension money paid in by the inmates, $20,000 transferred from the soldiers’ relief fund.

The new building in process of construction at a cost to the state of about $100,000 is now enclosed and will be completed by Nov. 1. It is a three-story structure of red brick, and a fine addition to the buildings at the Home.

The present registration at the Soldiers’ Home is given as 275 men.

Five Civil War veterans shared a bench at the Minneapolis Soldiers’ Home in 1899. (Photo courtesy mnhs.org)

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