Chillicothe Veterans Administration Hospital

Chillicothe's veterans hospital campus sits on a slight rise along State Route 104 in Ross County, Ohio. Construction began in 1922 on land transferred from Camp Sherman, a World War I training camp, and the hospital opened in 1924 to treat veterans with neuropsychiatric conditions. Of 81 resources in the historic district, 55 contribute to its character. They include two main buildings, H-shaped patient ward buildings, a recreation building, a kitchen and dining hall, residential quarters, a boiler plant, shops and garages. The buildings fall into three clusters by function: a central core, residences and maintenance and utility buildings. The original 1923 buildings are plain, while the 1938 main building is the most ornate. Buildings from the 1920s and from the 1930s through 1950 show how veterans hospital design changed, in both architecture and landscape. The hospital still serves veterans in southeast Ohio.