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SOLDIERS HOME CHAPEL

The Soldiers Home Chapel is a multi-denominational church built in 1889. It was paid for with “Post Funds,” which included profits from the operation of the Soldiers Home store, beer sales, the sales of products made or grown at the branch, gifts, bequests, and unpaid pensions of members who died without wills or heirs. This Chapel served as a place of prayer, refuge and true patriotism. 

 

The Soldiers Home Chapel characterizes the residential cluster of buildings bordering Wood National Cemetery at the northwest side of the district. The Soldiers Home Chapel was joined by a grouping of residential quarters for officers and nurses in this corner of the campus around 1920.

Designed by famed Milwaukee architect Henry C. Koch, this wood-frame building was built in the shape of a cross and displays some Queen Anne style architectural features, which tend to be asymmetrical shapes with different wall textures, such as patterned wood shingles shaped into varying designs. 

 

The Soldiers Home Chapel remained in use until 1996. Today, all religious services are held in the Main Hospital Chapel. The building is currently vacant and in need of restoration. The Milwaukee Preservation Alliance is at work to identify the best path forward to rehabilitate the Soldiers Home Chapel and return it to the service of veterans.

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