Battle Mountain Sanitarium

Year Listed: 2014
Location: Hot Springs, South Dakota
Threat: Public Policy

Significance

Battle Mountain Sanitarium in Hot Springs, South Dakota has provided medical care to veterans in the region for more than a century. It is one of more than 2,000 historic properties managed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and one of a few designated a National Historic Landmark. It was also named a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2012. 

Today, the VA is moving forward with a proposal to abandon the facility and relocate medical services 60 miles away, in Rapid City. If the VA moves ahead with its plan, it will remove the largest employer in the self-described “Veterans Town,” as well as leave behind dozens of vacant, historic buildings to an uncertain fate.