Togus, Down in Maine: The First National Veterans Home

Togus, located 4.5 miles east of Augusta, Maine, was formerly part of the town of Chelsea. After the Civil War, Congress enacted laws and established a system of facilities that collectively became known as National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. The critical need to establish an eastern branch of the National Home led to the selection of the former Togus Spring Hotel, which after some remodeling, opened for Union Civil War veterans in
November 1866. Gathered from cherished family al...