Confederate Men's Home
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Confederate men’s home began in 1884 as a project of the John B. Hood Camp of United Confederate Veterans and was intended as a residence for disabled and indigent Confederate veterans. Potential residents were required to prove that they had served honorably in the Civil War, that they had a disability that prevented them from supporting themselves, and that they did not suffer from any contagious diseases. The Albert Sidney Johnston Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy led fundraising efforts for the home. In 1886, the John B. Hood Camp purchased sixteen acres with a two-story building at 1600 West Sixth Street, and the Confederate Men’s Home opened later that year. The home was operated by the Veterans’ Camp with funding from public contributions until 1891, when oversight was assumed by the state of Texas. The State Legislature established the Board of Control to operate the home in 1920, and then in 1949, responsibility was transferred to the Board for Texas State Hospitals and Special Schools. The site eventually grew to twenty-six acres and included a large administration building, living quarters, a hospital and private cottages. From the time of its inception until the death of the last resident veteran in 1954, more than 2,000 Confederate veterans were admitted to the home. During the mid-twentieth century, the scope of the home shifted to include disabled veterans of the Spanish-American War and World War I, as well as mental health patients. The home operated until 1963, when residents were transferred to Kerrville, and the site’s buildings were razed in 1970.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1884, John B. Hood Camp of United Confederate Veterans launched a home in Austin for aging, disabled, and destitute Confederate soldiers, aided by fundraising from the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Opened at 1600 West Sixth Street in 1886, the home grew from sixteen to twenty-six acres and passed to state control by 1891. More than 2,000 veterans lived here until the last resident died in 1954, and the buildings were razed in 1970.
Why it matters
The home reflects how the postwar South cared for its Civil War generation into the twentieth century, a chapter of memory, aging, and public welfare that outlasted the war by nearly a century.
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Related people
- · John B. Hood
Themes & tags
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