History
The concept of a
retirement home for naval personnel is almost as old as our nation.
The Naval Home was established Feb. 26, 1811, by the Honorable Paul
Hamilton of South Carolina, Secretary of the Navy under President
James Madison. The charter was “to provide a permanent asylum
for decrepit and disabled naval officers, seamen, and
Marines.”
The Naval Home was officially opened in 1834, and was known as the Naval Asylum until the name was changed to the Naval Home in 1880. Naval personnel who were “so injured or infirmed as to be unable to contribute materially to their own support” were allowed to live at the home and asked to labor as much as they were able toward the care of it.
The Naval Home was initially funded by contributions from the active force. As early as 1799, contributions of 20 cents per month were taken from every active duty member for the relief of seamen in the service. This contribution was augmented by all fines imposed upon persons of the Navy and was the principal source of monies for the Naval Hospital Fund/Pension Fund. The Pension Fund also received all money accruing from the sale of prizes of war.
For nearly 100 years, the Naval Home was funded by these monies. In 1934, the Pension Fund was abolished by Congress and the proceeds were deposited into the U.S. Treasury. From 1935 until 1991, the Naval Home was funded by Navy appropriations. Today, it is funded by monthly withholding from the active duty, fines and forfeitures, interest off the Trust Fund and resident fees.
“The Plantation,” a 23-acre site located in Philadelphia, Penn., was purchased for $16,352 with money from the Hospital Fund. The land was originally owned by the William Penn family. The corner-stone of the main structure was laid in 1827, and later named Biddle Hall.
In the late ‘60s, it was determined that the Philadelphia facility could not be economically modernized and expanded, and that the most cost effective program would be new construction at a new site. The site selected was 39 acres fronting the Gulf of Mexico in Gulfport, Miss.
In 1991, Congress merged the U.S. Naval Home in Gulfport and the U.S. Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home into a single agency — The Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH)- in the executive branch of the federal government. In 2001, Congress renamed the U.S. Naval Home to the Armed Forces Retirement Home-Gulfport.