Dayton National Cemetery, Funeral Tunnel, 4100 West Third Street, Dayton

Source document Quoted word for word from HALS OH-3-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Funeral Tunnel is located within the Dayton National Cemetery at West Third Street, Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. The tunnel is near the intersection of McMahon Ave and Wisconsin Ave. It is approximately 20 feet from the road. The Funeral Tunnel is located at latitude: longitude: The coordinate was obtained in using Google Earth There is no restriction on its release to the public.

Source document Quoted word for word from HALS OH-3-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Dayton National Cemetery Funeral Tunnel is associated with funeral practices in the late and early century at the Central Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, now the Dayton VA Medical Center. The tunnel is listed as a contributing resource on the Central Branch s National Historic Landmark nomination and National Register of Historic Places nomination. The Central Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers opened in Dayton, Ohio, in as the third facility of its kind to house and care for Union veterans of the Civil War. The funeral tunnel was used until the early century to convey the deceased from the Home Hospital Morgue to the cemetery and the beginning of the funeral procession.

The Home Hospital was the main location for treating veterans until the construction of the Edwin F. Brown Hospital in The Home Hospital was then used for living quarters for residents until conversion into storage following the Bonus Act of as many veterans left the VA. The hospital burned down in There is no record of when the decorative tunnel entrance was removed and the current stone face installed. In the tunnel south of the receiving vault was removed for the preparation of new vaults for future burials at the cemetery. Part I: Historical Information A. Physical History 1. Date of Erection: 2. Architect: Unknown DAYTON NATIONAL CEMETERY,

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No. OH-3-A (Page 2) 3. Original and Subsequent Owners, Occupants, Uses: a. Ownership of the Cemetery and the Funeral Tunnel has always been with the U.S. Government. - The National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers - Veterans Administration - National Cemetery Administration present). b. Originally built to contain steam and water pipes and a small railway to transport coal. Soon after it was constructed by the mid-1870s it was used to convey the deceased from the hospital to the cemetery through the early century. 4. Builder, Contractor, Suppliers: Not known 5. Original Plans and Construction: The tunnel has a limestone block exterior with stone steps and metal railing wrapping around the sides of the hill of the tunnel. The interior is red brick barrel vault tunnel 8 wide and 7 tall.

In a receiving vault was built in a portion of the tunnel near the cemetery opening. The receiving vault is 8 by 8 with a double segmental arch vault ceiling 7 tall. Arched metal doors lead from the receiving vault to the final section of tunnel toward the cemetery. 6. Alterations and Addition: The cemetery entrance including the decorative tunnel fa ade, iron gates, and stone apron was removed and replaced with two layers of limestone blocks. There is no record of when the decorative tunnel entrance was removed, and the current stone face installed. The receiving vault and north end of the tunnel have remained in their original configuration. In the tunnel south of the receiving vault was removed for the preparation of new vaults for future burials at the cemetery. B.

Historical Context: Following the passing of the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln in (as amended in the Central Branch of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers opened in Dayton, Ohio, in as the third facility of its kind to house and care for Union veterans of the Civil War. 1 The Central Branch is now known as the Dayton VA Medical Center. Nearly 600 Veterans were accommodated immediately. 2 Inmates, as they were known, were eventually buried in what is now Dayton National Cemetery. The elegant campus where 1 Curt Dalton, A Home for Our Heroes: The History of the Dayton Veterans Administration (Dayton, OH: Children s Historical Publishing, 9.

2 History of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers with a Complete Guide-Book to the Central Home at Dayton, Ohio (Dayton, OH: United Brethren Printing Establishment, 41. DAYTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, FUNERAL TUNNEL HALS No. OH-3-A (Page 3) the men lived, worked, learned, worshipped, healed, and eventually died also contained a lesser-visited structure, the funeral tunnel. Construction on the Central Branch s Home Hospital began in June with the building being completed in May 3 Along with the hospital, a 300-foot tunnel was also constructed to contain steam and water pipes and a small railway to transport coal. This tunnel was soon used to convey the deceased from the hospital to the cemetery.

In the mid-1870s the Central Branch housed more than Veterans a number predicted to rise in the coming decades. 4 Concurrently, the number of deaths peaked at per year toward the end of the century. 5 To meet this need, a "new receiving vault" was built in in a portion of the tunnel, near the cemetery opening, which was described as a very great convenience to the institution. 6 The tunnel led from the Home Hospital morgue to the cemetery, where it was utilized from the mid-1870s until the early century to transport the remains of deceased veterans to the beginning of the funeral procession. The casket was placed on a small flat car and moved through the tunnel.

Protected by heavy iron gates, the outer entrance of the tunnel was unlocked when a soldier s remains reached the tunnel entrance. The funeral corps received the casket and placed it into the waiting horse-drawn hearse. At this point, a line of forty or more soldiers formed outside the tunnel entrance. The casket was borne to the church for funeral services, covered with the national flag, then the procession formed a line and proceeded to the cemetery. The body was interred, a salute of three volleys fired, and all was over. 7 The tunnel was seen on maps until although written confirmed mention of the tunnel was in 8 By a circle drive had been created for the tunnel to load the casket onto the hearse.

This drive was removed by the 9 The stone skirt and curbs in front of the tunnel removed then filled in sometime after 10 A railroad line was installed around following the construction of the Commissary and Quartermaster Building for storage of supplies for the Home in 11 The line laid across the top of the tunnel allowing for trains to access Central Branch as a distribution 3 Curt Dalton, The Mother Home: A History of the Dayton Soldiers Home in (Dayton, OH: American Veterans Heritage Center, 3. (but no source for date) 4 Daniel Curry, ed. The Soldiers home at Dayton Ohio, National Repository, Devoted to General and Religious Literature, Criticism and Art. Vol. No 19 (March 5 U.S.

Congress, House, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers-Report of the Board of Managers for the fiscal year ended June 30, Congress, 3rd session, Doc. No. 50. 6 Annual Report, National Home for Disabled Veteran Soldiers Regulations, (Washington DC: Department of Veterans Affairs Central Library, 7 The Grim Monster, Cincinnati Enquirer Supplement, February 1, 20. 8 The Grim Monster, 20. 9 Central Branch Station Plan. Washington DC: Department of Veterans Affairs Central Library, 10 L. Harline, Jr. eng. Map of the Central Branch for Showing the Location of Underground Conduits. Dayton OH: Dayton VA Medical Center Engineering Department, 11 Central Branch Station Plan, DAYTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, FUNERAL TUNNEL HALS No.

OH-3-A (Page 4) warehouse for many of the national homes supplies for the other homes. 12 The railroad continued to supply the warehouse until the when the tracks were eventually removed. 13 The Home hospital was the main location for treating veterans until the construction of the Edwin F. Brown Hospital in 14 The Home hospital was then used for living quarters for residents until conversion into storage following the Bonus Act of as many veterans left the VA. 15 The hospital burned down in On July 21, the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers consolidated with Veterans Bureau to create Veterans Administration.

The cemetery was then transferred to the Veterans Administration National Cemetery System in The cemetery was enlarged in with the transfer of acres from the Veterans Administration. 16 In acres were transferred to cemetery with another acres in 17 The cemetery, along with the current Dayton VA Medical Center, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in Jan 15, then listed as a National Landmark in October 16, Part II. Sources of Information A. Architectural and Engineering Drawings: Central Branch Station Plan. Scale not given. Washington DC: Department of Veterans Affairs Central Library, Dayton Metro Area Map. 1 inch to 3/8 mile. Grand Rapids, MI: Metro Graphic Arts, Inc., October Harline, jr. L. eng.

Map of the Central Branch for Showing the Location of Underground Conduits. Scale 80 feet 1 inch, Dayton OH: Dayton VA Medical Center Engineering Department, Wagner and Osgood. Record Plan Water & Gas Distribution. Scale not given. Dayton, OH: Dayton VA Medical Center Engineering Department, 12 Tessa Kalman, The Dayton VA Medical Center 150 Years A Heritage of Healing (Dayton, OH: The Dayton VA Medical Center, 68. 13 Dayton Metro Area Map. Grand Rapids, MI: Metro Graphic Arts, Inc., October 14 Kalman, The Dayton VA Medical Center 150 Years A Heritage of Healing, 88. 15 Kalman, The Dayton VA Medical Center 150 Years A Heritage of Healing, 16 Jurgensen, Barry, Geoffrey Burt, March Chavez, and Don Stevens.

National Historic Landmark Nomination: Central Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers/Dayton Veterans Administration Home. 14. 17 Jurgensen, National Landmark Nomination, 14. DAYTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, FUNERAL TUNNEL HALS No. OH-3-A (Page 5) Yencer, (North Half) Map of the Central Branch V.A. Home Showing the Location of Underground Conduits. Scale 80 feet 1 inch. Dayton OH: Dayton VA Medical Center Engineering Department, April 30, B. Early Views: Memorial Day Gathering Southwest Overlooking Section A, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Funeral Tunnel and Hospital Postcard, copy on file in the Administrative Archival Collection. Veterans Affairs Medical Center and National Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.

Postcard of Funeral Tunnel Entrance, no date, copy on file in the Administrative Archival Collection. Veterans Affairs Medical Center and National Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio. Central Branch bird s eye lithograph, untitled, copy on file in the Administrative Archival Collection. Veterans Affairs Medical Center and National Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio. C. Selected

Source document Quoted word for word from HALS OH-3-A. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

1. Primary and unpublished sources: Annual Report, National Home for Disabled Veteran Soldiers Regulations, Washington DC: Department of Veterans Affairs Central Library, History of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers with a Complete Guide-Book to the Central Home at Dayton, Ohio. Written and compiled by a Veteran of the Home. Dayton, OH: United Brethren Printing Establishment, Proceedings of the Board of Managers, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. Washington DC: Department of Veterans Affairs Central Library. April 19, Curry, Daniel, ed., The Soldiers home at Dayton Ohio, National Repository, Devoted to General and Religious Literature, Criticism and Art. Vol. 19 (March U.S.

Congress, House, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers-Report of the Board of Managers for the fiscal year ended June 30, Congress, 3rd session, (Washington Government Printing Office, Doc. No. 50. 2. Secondary and published sources: DAYTON NATIONAL CEMETERY,

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No. OH-3-A (Page 6) Jurgensen, Barry, Geoffrey Burt, March Chavez, and Don Stevens. National Historic Landmark Nomination: Central Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers/Dayton Veterans Administration Home. Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio. Dalton, Curt. A Home for Our Heroes: The History of the Dayton Veterans Administration. Dayton, OH: Children s Historical Publishing, Dalton, Curt. The Mother Home: A History of the Dayton Soldiers Home in Dayton, OH: American Veterans Heritage Center, The Grim Monster. Cincinnati Enquirer Supplement, February 1, Hull, Jeffery M. and Matthew J. Jeffery. National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Central Branch, National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers. Dayton, Montgomery County, OH. National Register Reference Kalman, Tessa.

The Dayton VA Medical Center 150 Years A Heritage of Healing. Dayton, OH: The Dayton VA Medical Center, D. Likely Sources Not Yet Investigated: Aerial photography of the Home showing the tunnel, Maps of Home Showing the Location of Underground Conduits Architectural drawing of the Home hospital, any year. Part III. Project Information This documentation was prepared by Ball State University s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation and submitted to HABS through the Peterson Prize student drawing competition. DAYTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, FUNERAL TUNNEL HALS No. OH-3-A (Page 7) Figure 1: Funeral Tunnel and Hospital Postcard, Veterans Affairs Medical Center and National Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.

Figure 2: Postcard of Funeral Tunnel Entrance.(no date) Veterans Affairs Medical Center and National Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio.