The site was Alabama's only Confederate veterans' home, operating for 37 years as a haven for many of Alabama's destitute Confederate veterans and their wives or widows. Twenty two buildings once stood on the 102-acre site, providing a less institutionalized environment than veterans' homes in some other states, including nine cottages, the Commandant's house, an administration building known as "Memorial Hal, a mess hall, and a hospital, along with water, gas, and sewage systems. The Soldiers' Home began operation in May 1902, was designed to house 100 residents, and reached a peak population of 91 veterans and 13 wives during 1914-1918. Afterward the resident population declined until the death of the last veteran in June 1934, and the facility continued to house a small number of Confederate widows until it officially closed on October 31, 1939. Most of the buildings were later dismantled, except for the mess hall, which stood until the mid 1960's, the care of the site's two cemeteries was transferred to the Alabama Soil Conservation Service, and in 1964 the site was preserved by act of the Alabama Legislature in the establishment of Confederate Memorial Park.