How a $1 land transfer in 1891 became Washington's first soldiers' home in Orting

The grounds that hold the Washington Soldiers' Home in Orting began in 1891 when Edward and Anna Lawrence transferred 160 acres to the state in exchange for the state assuming their $5,000 mortgage, according to the presentation. That parcel later became the state’s first veterans' home, and over the next century the campus grew to about 174 acres with historic brick barracks, a veterans' cemetery and open fields beneath Mount Rainier.

The narrator said the site became the first of four state veterans homes overseen by the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs, with sister facilities in Port Orchard, Spokane and Walla Walla. The historical details were offered to frame the institution’s long-standing role in veterans' care and housing.