The original land and funding for the West Los Angeles campus came from a number of influential sources in the West, including U.S. Senator John P. Jones (Nevada), Robert Baker, and Arcadia Bandini Stearns de Baker. They believed that the development of a community of veterans would contribute to the economic growth of the surrounding area.

Known as the Pacific Branch of the National Home of Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, the campus evolved throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Architect Stanford White was credited with designing the original Shingle style wood frame barracks, which influenced J. Lee Burton’s designs for the Streetcar Depot (1890) and Wadsworth Chapel (1900).

Following the end of World War I, the medical facilities expanded significantly, and many of the Colonial Revival buildings were constructed during this period. A subsequent wave of development occurred after the establishment of the Veterans Administration in 1930; this building campaign was characterized by the proliferation of the Mission and Spanish Colonial Revival styles. Notable examples from this era are the Wadsworth Theatre (1940) and Building 209 (1945), now known as the Homeless Veterans Transitional Housing.

The non-profit organization 1887 Fund was established to advocate for the restoration of the VA campus’s historic structures and landscapes.

The Wadsworth Chapel is a late-Victorian building erected before the boulevard even existed in this part of Los Angeles. It is the last remaining example of a neighborhood of Victorian structures officially named the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, founded in 1887 to care for volunteer soldiers of the Civil War and Indian wars. It was designed to serve Protestants on one side and Catholics on the other.

Its detailing, window patterns, bell tower, and to some extent, interiors, remain intact. Yet it needs millions of dollars in repair and restoration and is currently closed to the public.