Soldiers' Home

The Soldiers' Home is a historic Italianate style building located at 739 E. 35th Street in Chicago, Illinois. Constructed between 1864 and 1923, it was designed by William W. Boyington and others. This landmark, designated on April 16, 1996, is the last surviving structure in Chicago linked to the American Civil War, originally serving as a hospital for injured soldiers and later as a home for disabled Union Army veterans. The idea for the home was conceived by Mary Livermore and Jane Hoge, who organized a fundraising fair that notably included the sale of President Abraham Lincoln's handwritten Emancipation Proclamation. Today, the building houses the offices of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, known as the Cardinal Meyer Center, making it a site of both historical significance and contemporary use.