National Soldiers Home

Over 1,000 workers were employed for the three-year initial construction period and a total of 3 million dollars in construction costs were spent in Johnson City during that time.  After the facilty was occupied in 1903, it was estimated that visitors to the Branch alone spent $30,000 annually in the village while the soldiers spent $40,000 in pensions. The grounds of the original Branches quickly became tourist attractions and the Mountain Branch was no exception. A hotel was built near the present post office to accommodate visitors. It had a barbershop and restaurant  to serve veterans and visitors alike. This Branch sported a zoo housing bear, elk, deer, and peacock. There were two large lakes, swans, a tennis court, and cultivated rose garden. A full time horticulturist was employed to constantly refresh the grounds. Veterans of the Home and traveling semi-professional baseball teams utilized the newly built baseball field complete with grandstands.  The gazebo was the site for weekly concerts by the Branch Band, which were very popular with Johnson City citizens on Sunday afternoon.

The originalo construction included 37 buildings. There were 8 barracks for 2500 men, a mess hall (the Clock Tower), a 4 ward infirmary, officers/surgeons quarters (homes), administrative building, power house, laundry, ice house, hotel, chapel, theatre, bandstand(gazebo), jail, and morgue. Other buildings were added until the project was completed in 1910.

Mr. Brownlow wrote Andrew Carnegie and asked for a contribution to assist in building a library, something not included in the original proposal. Mr. Carnegie responded with a note that said, I'm pleased to comply with your request" and sent a check for $25,000 which covered the cost of the complete building. Mr. Brownlow wrote the major publishers of the day and asked them to donate books. They complied with 16,000 volumes. He also wrote the leading music companies and secured all band instruments for the Home band. As an added bonus, Congressman Brownlow petitioned the Johnson City Commission to extend the trolley lines out to the Home. This was approved in November 1901. The trolley ran 10 hours per day and cost five cents each way.

The Branches were designed as domiciles rather than hospitals. Each had an infirmary to care for the members who became acutely ill, as the concept of veteran's hospitals had not been fully developed. Most of the labor to run the Branch was furnished by the veterans living there. This was common among all Branches including the Mountain Branch. The veterans admitted to all Soldiers Home were expected to work, within confines of their physical abilities. The Branch had a 250 acre farm with dairy cattle, a coal fired power plant, a dining hall feeding 2500 people per day and an infirmary watching over the sick. The residents grew produce in the garden, produced flowers in the greenhouse for the infirmary and cemetery, ran the fire department, laundry, steam plant, and security force. Those refusing to work were expelled from the Home. There was a "member-guard" force to enforce the rules and regulations as well as a jail for confinement. There was no shortage of work assignments for the residents of the Home.