Veterans Memorial Hall, or VMH, located in Duluth, Minnesota, is a program of the Saint Louis County, Minnesota, Historical Society. It is located at the Saint Louis County Heritage and Arts Center (the Depot). Its mission is to collect veterans' stories and artifacts, to maintain a permanent exhibit recognizing the military service of local veterans and units, and to educate the public about local veteran history. Saint Louis County Expansion At the turn of the 20th century, Saint Louis County's population was booming. Duluth, the county seat, was incorporated in 1857. Owing to westward migration, vast regional resources, and local opportunity, its population grew exponentially. Many American Civil War veterans recognized the economic opportunities of the area and relocated to the area. By the early 1900s, Duluth had approximately 100,000 residents and was positioned to rival Chicago as a Great Lakes port. Duluth had more millionaires per capita than another other American city, and its future looked bright. County leaders, reflecting this optimism, determined to build a courthouse that would be unparalleled in Minnesota. To this end, they sought out the services of one of the prominent architects of the time, Daniel Hudson Burnham. He had achieved fame for his design of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and the Flatiron Building in New York City, among others. Burnham agreed to design the new courthouse and the layout for the Duluth Civic Center of which it was a part. The Saint Louis County Courthouse, which was completed in 1909, would cost $1 million. The role of Civil War veterans The courthouse design and implementation were influenced by two national trends. First, as the nation expanded westward, the young states, counties, and municipalities undertook massive public construction projects to support governmental services—executive, legislative, and judicial—in the newly expanded areas. Second, in the post-war period, Civil War veterans who had fought for the Union had formed local units of the Grand Army of the Republic, or GAR. The GAR was primarily a social organization, with local posts throughout the country; and politically speaking, the GAR, as a bloc, wielded significant influence. These two trends converged, with the result that political leaders found it politically expedient to secure the support of local GAR chapters for the construction of proposed public construction projects. In Minnesota, state leaders appealed to the GAR for support when architectural plans were being drafted for the capitol building in