In November 1927, Gordon M. Crothers Post 15 in Dade City, Fla., was preparing to lay the cornerstone of its new American Legion Home.

Three days before the ceremony, The Dade City Banner published a special edition centered on the post, its community service and the new home. Its pages told of Legionnaires visiting cemeteries to place flags and flowers on veterans’ graves, working with local schools and young people, and participating in civic life throughout Pasco County.

The headline declared: “LOCAL LEGION ACTIVE IN ALL CIVIC AFFAIRS.”

Nearly 99 years later, while researching the history of our post and its home, we began asking a simple question: Is it still true?

What we found surprised us.

In 1927, Post 15 carried remembrance into cemeteries throughout Pasco County. Today, members of the American Legion Family work alongside local Girl Scouts planting flags on veterans’ graves.

In 1927, Dade City businesses, public officials and community organizations rallied behind veterans building their new home. Today, local organizations and businesses are again supporting Post 15 as we work to preserve it.

And in 1927, the Banner reminded readers that the Legionnaires were erecting the building “not only for themselves, but for public use.” Today, the home continues hosting activities that benefit organizations and people throughout our community.

Then our research brought us back to the cornerstone.

When it was laid on Nov. 11, 1927, a Post and Auxiliary roster, membership emblems - and a copy of that Nov. 8 newspaper - were placed behind it.

The very edition we had been reading.

That newspaper preserved a snapshot of what Gordon M. Crothers Post 15 believed service should look like in 1927.

Nearly a century later, the names and programs have changed, but the idea behind them has not: veterans and their families serving their community, remembering those who came before them, and helping another generation carry that service forward.

More Than a Building. A Legacy Worth Preserving.