The Togus Veterans Administration Facility was originally built to house approximately 400 veterans. Beginning in 1868, additional housing was built to accommodate 3,000 veterans, who lived in barracks, as depicted in this postcard. The barracks were organized by basic infantry unit of each company, and each housed approximately 100 veterans.

Togus is one of the oldest veterans’ facilities in the United States, having opened in Chelsea, Maine in 1866 as a home for disabled soldiers on the site of a former health summer resort known as Togus Springs. “Togus” comes from the Native American “Worromontogus,” or mineral water. Through the Consolidation Act of July 1930, the property at Togus became a Veterans Administration Facility, and additional buildings were added throughout the 1930s. Togus was notable for being the first home created by the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers and thus the first facility built to assist volunteer soldiers.

The caption reads, "Barracks, Veterans Administration Facility, Togus, Maine."

The Tichnor Brothers printing company published this type of postcard circa 1938.