However, this site proved to be unacceptable because the natural gas wells drilled on it were inadequate. Other sites were proposed. In February 1889, General Lew A. Harris and Colonel J. B. Thomas, serving as advisers to the Board of Managers, visited Marion to inspect possible sites for the branch. They made their headquarters the Spencer House. On March 2, 1889, an announcement was made that the selection of a site along Jonesboro Pike, 2 ½ miles southeast of town, was announced. The site was assembled from of Geiger owned farmland which was purchased on March 28, 1889, and of land purchased from Isaac Elliott on April 10, 1889. These two tracts were purchased for approximately $110 per acre. The Federal Government only authorized up to $90 per acre, and therefore, local Grant County citizens donated the additional monies to ensure the construction of the Marion Branch. The site was later enlarged with the purchase of three additional tracts in 1894, 1896, and 1897, for a total of 298.84. On May 2, 1889, a group of men headed by Colonel Harris arrived to visit the home site. While visiting a demonstration of the natural gas well was given. This well is located east, across the street from Building 23. Construction of the Marion Branch began in 1889. A brick works was located on an adjacent farm which supplied the bricks for the original structures. The official opening for the Marion National Home was on March 18, 1890. The cost of land, buildings and permanent improvements totaled $698,000. Enrollment at the Marion Branch in 1890 was 586. The main hospital building, Building 19, was completed and patients began to be treated in the facility. Female nurses arrived for work from Cincinnati. By 1892 a request for two additional barracks was made due to the VA reaching its veteran capacity of 1,241 members. During this time, members were sleeping on the floor due to lack of space. Enrollment steadily rose to reach 1782 members in 1901. With enrollment increasing due to the veterans returning from World War I, and with the 1917 amendment allowing all veterans the same medical care, additions to the National Home became necessary. By 1919, approximately 60 additional buildings had been constructed to include memorials, a fire station, warehouses, additional quarters, supply buildings, and greenhouses. The Marion Branch and all other homes were opened to both the white veteran and members of the United States Colored Troops. This integration was a full eighty years before the United States had fully integrated military units. The integration was rudimentary by today's standards.