Volunteers, who served with distinction in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

In 1892, about 1,049 acres was traded to the U.S. government in exchange for the area now known as MacArthur Park Historic District in Little Rock, which had been a military reservation since the 1830s.

The 66th U.S. Congress transferred Fort Roots to the Public Health Service department on March 4, 1921, for conversion to a veterans hospital for neuropsychiatric disorders.

On June 10, 1983, a newly constructed hospital building was dedicated on the existing property.

Many of the historic buildings flanking the parade ground were listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 in recognition of the area's military history,[2] and virtually the entire campus was listed in 2013 in recognition of its significance as a U.S. Veterans Administration medical center.