- [Narrator] The history of the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans home in Hot Springs dates back to the mid-1880s and the efforts of Civil War veterans who had moved to the Territory after the war.

Members of the Grand Army of the Republic brought it up formally at a meeting in 1886.

The Grand Army of the Republic, or G.A.R., was a fraternal organization of Civil War veterans from the union side.

There were dozens of local posts and thousand of members in towns all over Dakota Territory.

Because they amounted to a generally like-minded voting bloc, the G.A.R.

wielded an enormous amount of political clout.

Their G.A.R.

Commander at the time, William Lucas, convinced legislators to appropriate money several times before 1889, but Louis K. Church, the Territorial Governor, stood in the way.

- He had stated publicly that the veterans that needed care should go back from the states which they came from for their care and also that there wasn't funding available.

So he vetoed the bill several times and then it was overruled by the legislature and they allocated $45,000 for a Veterans Home to be built.

The catch was the legislature told the Grand Army of the Republic to find the location suitable for this veteran's home that would serve the whole Dakota Territories.

A group of men from the Grand Army of the Republic set out across the Dakota Territories and traveled far and wide and looked at all different options.

- [Narrator] They chose Hot Springs for the therapeutic qualities of its water and its peaceful forest setting and they accepted 160 acres of land transferred from the Federal Government through a local landowner.

Construction on what was and still is known as Building Two began in 1889 and the facility began accepting residents in 1890.

Several other structures were built and demolished over time, but the original building still stands.

- To my knowledge, out of the first Veterans Homes around the United States, we are the only one still using our historic building for what it was designed for.

- [Narrator] The old soldier's home was renamed for Vietnam Era Medal of Honor recipient Michael J. Fitzmaurice in 1998.

A building erected in 2016 is the most recent addition to the campus.

This is perhaps the greatest peacetime legacy of the Civil War veterans who came to South Dakota after the war.

The advocacy and care they extended to one another has extended to countless other South Dakota veterans for 132 years and counting.

(bright music)