Camp Fremont
Camp Fremont was a World War I-era military base located near Palo Alto, California. Construction started in July, 1917 and the post closed in September, 1919.
Contents
Location
Camp Fremont was constructed on vacant land in and around the area of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.[1][2]
Layout
Camp Fremont consisted of slightly more than 7,200 acres (29 km2) and contained approximately 1,125 structures, mostly temporary buildings constructed of wood.[3]
Creation of post
During preparation for possible entry into World War I, the U.S. Army determined a need existed for a post on the west coast of the United States to train National Guard units for combat.
Construction started on July 24, 1917, and the new installation was named in honor of Major General John C. Fremont, an early hero of California.[4][5][6][7][8]
Use during World War I
Camp Fremont served as a training site for the National Guard's 41st Infantry Division, which included soldiers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. The 41st Division was later moved to Camp Greene, where it completed its training before departing for fighting in France.[9][10][11][12]
The 8th Infantry Division then occupied Camp Fremont. Slated for combat in France, the 8th Division was later assigned the mission of fighting in Russia during the Siberian Intervention.[13][14][15]
Camp Fremont was also home to the 332nd Auxiliary Remount Depot, part of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. The depot was authorized 5,000 animals, and averaged about 2,300. Remount depots were organized to procure, train and condition horses and mules, and then dispatch them to the units that required them.[16]
Association with prominent individuals
- Major General William S. Graves assumed command of the 8th Infantry Division at Camp Fremont in 1918.[17]
- Lieutenant General Laurin L. Williams served at Camp Fremont as a second lieutenant.[18]
- Brigadier General James Edward Wharton was stationed at Camp Fremont at the start of his career during World War I.[19]
- General John K. Cannon completed his initial military training at Camp Fremont.[20]
- Warren Grimm, All-American football player and Army officer, completed his training at Camp Fremont before taking part in the Siberian Intervention.[21]
- Philip Johnston, one of the organizers of the World War II Navajo code talkers, was a World War I veteran who had trained at Camp Fremont.[22]
Post closing
After the end of World War I combat, there was no longer a use for Camp Fremont, and the Army ordered the post closed. The buildings were sold at auction, and the camp was abandoned in January, 1920.[23][24]
Legacy
Several new businesses were begun in Menlo Park and Palo Alto to provide goods and services to soldiers at Camp Fremont, many of which stayed in existence after the post closed. Menlo Park received its first paved streets and its first municipal water and gas services during World War I, both of which were constructed by the 8th Division engineers.[25]
Present day
The post hospital on Willow Road in Menlo Park later became the site of a Veterans Administration hospital. It is now also the location of Stanford University's Arbor Free Clinic.[26]
Two popular restaurants, MacArthur Park (which once housed Palo Alto's community center) and the Oasis Beer Garden are both located in former Camp Fremont buildings.[27][28]
References
- ↑ Annual Report of the Secretary of War, published by U.S. War Department, 1920, Volume 2, page 1644
- ↑ Annual Report of the University President, published by Stanford University, 1918, page 23
- ↑ The New International Year Book, 1918, page 718
- ↑ Newspaper article, Work Progressing On Camp Fremont, Berkeley Daily Gazette, July 27, 1917
- ↑ Newspaper article, Camp Fremont, Palo Alto, Will Be Completed, Deseret News, August 25, 1917
- ↑ Newspaper article, Fremont's Telephone System Completed, San Jose Evening News, November 10, 1917
- ↑ Newspaper article, Angelino Builds Army Cantonment, Los Angeles Times, November 11, 1917
- ↑ Compiled Monthly Bulletins, California State Board of Health, 1917, page 158
- ↑ Newspaper article, Off to Camp Fremont, Los Angeles Times, May 16, 1918
- ↑ The US Army in World War I - Orders of Battle, Richard A. Rinaldi, 2004, page 216
- ↑ The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1922, Volume 17, page 530
- ↑ The Official History of the Washington National Guard, published by the Washington National Guard, 1961, page 525
- ↑ Newspaper article, History Of The Eighth Division, Ellensburg (Washington) Daily Record, December 31, 1919
- ↑ Harper's Pictorial Library of the World War, 1920, Volume 5, page 368
- ↑ America's Part in the World War, by Richard Joseph Beamish and Francis Andrew March, 1919, page 560
- ↑ [1], The Army Veterinary Service During the Great War, WW1
- ↑ Anne Cipriano Venzon, The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia, 2013, page 263
- ↑ Official U.S. Army Directory, published by U.S. Army Adjutant General, 1918, page 96
- ↑ New Mexico World War I Records, 1917-1919, entry for James Edward Wharton, retrieved March 4, 2014
- ↑ The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, compiled by J.T. White, Volume 46, 1963, page 239
- ↑ Historical Roster, 12th Infantry Regiment, Sarge's Home Page web site, by Bruce Holzhauer, accessed March 10, 2011
- ↑ Biography, Philip Johnston, American National Biography Online (February 2000), Published by Oxford University Press, accessed March 10, 2011
- ↑ Newspaper article, Fremont to Close Officially Jan. 31, San Jose Evening News, January 3, 1919
- ↑ Historic Spots in California, by Mildred Brooke Hoover, et al., revised by Douglas E. Kyle, 1990, page 382
- ↑ Palo Alto Online article, The Peninsula Mobilizes for War, by Don Kazak, undated
- ↑ Early History page, Menlo Park History web site, undated
- ↑ Palo Alto Online article, The Peninsula Mobilizes for War, by Don Kazak, undated
- ↑ California Office of Historic Preservation page, Hostess House
External links
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