Confederate Soldier's Home of Georgia (Atlanta, Ga.)

Founded by Georgia Division of United Daughters of the Confederacy and built through public subscription 1901-1902.

The Confederate Soldier's Home of Georgia was established in 1889 for the protection and care of Georgia veterans of the Civil War. Funded by private donations, the Board of Directors (led by newspaper editor Henry Grady) purchased a tract of land on Confederate Avenue just outside the Atlanta city limits where a Gothic style wooden structure was built to house residents. The home was completed in 1890 but did not open until 1900 due to lack of funds. The state of Georgia acquired the property in 1900 and it finally opened in 1901. However, on September 27 of that year, a fire completely destroyed the home and all its contents. A new building containing 68 rooms, including bedrooms, chapel, dining hall, kitchen, and storage rooms was built on the original site and opened in 1902. The first veteran to enter the Home was W. J. Aldred who became an inmate on June 3, 1901. The last veteran to share the home was Henry Taylor Dowling whose entry was recorded on April 17, 1941. The Home housed widows of Confederate veterans beginning in the 1940s before closing in 1963. It was razed in 1965.