 |
| Menlo Park Historical Association Collections Camp Fremont - Easter 1918 |
Besides cavalry and infantry there were horses and mules which
were housed further east at the 332nd Auxiliary Remount Depot on Ravenswood, near the camp hospital. Of the 16 training centers erected by the War
department, Camp Fremont was the largest east of the Mississippi.
Every idle carpenter on the peninsula was put to work. In all more than 700 men were put to work turning over 100 railroad cars of
lumber into temporary buildings.
Barracks consisted of wooden floors and
sidewalls topped with canvas tents.
Camp Fremont’s tent city covered more
than 1000 acres. 150 Southern Pacific
workers laid spur track from the main
line to the middle of camp. El Camino
Real was paved to accommodate the
increased traffic, and Menlo Park became
known as one of the worst traffic bottlenecks
on the peninsula..
Suddenly every available store front was
occupied by merchants from throughout
the Bay Area. A movie theater, post
office, church and library were built.
Beltramo’s Winery and all taverns within 5 miles of the base were declared
dry by order of the army and the county.
Sequoia High School opened a branch on the base offering classes in English, arithmetic, shorthand, typing and accounting but low attendance caused the program to fold.
Stanford University, worried about the proximity of so many men to their co-eds, stopped their objections when two companies of soldiers were assigned to the duty of making sure that no soldiers invaded Stanford’s borders and no Co-eds infiltrated Tent City. Shortly after the building started the war department halted the effort for three months. The original troops, the 41st Infantry Division National Guard from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming were moved east to Camp Greene, but then the 8 Division, Regular Army was transferred in and remained until the dismantling.
The troops which had trained to join the war efforts in France never did reach Europe. Some 5000, however, did serve time in Siberia. Michael Svanevik’s article "When ‘the forgotten army’ went to Siberia", The San Mateo Times, Friday, Aug 19, 1988 pg B3, tells a little of the tale of the Siberian intervention.
In Dec 1918, just 18 months after it was erected Camp Fremont was abandoned and the land reverted to it’s previous owners. During those short months 43,000 men had been trained. But the efforts of
the 8 Army Corp of Engineers had permanently changed the once rustic town of Menlo Park. Paved roads, water and gas services encouraged new growth. Another legacy was the more than a million pounds of lead that were removed from the hills as they were developed.
Today a few remainders of the 1000 plus Camp buildings dot the landscape of Menlo Park. The popular McArthur Park restaurant and the Oasis Beer Garden are housed in remnants of the vast camp and the Veterans Center on Willow Road was the base hospital.
Many of the 43000 men who served at Camp Fremont were recent emigres to the United States. In accordance with legislation passed at the time of the Civil War, the naturalization process was changed to honor their efforts for their new country. In all nearly 3200 men took advantage of the opportunity to become United States citizens before the base closed. SMCGS has indexed the Camp Fremont Naturalization Records.
Stanford University, worried about the proximity of so many men to their co-eds, stopped their objections when two companies of soldiers were assigned to the duty of making sure that no soldiers invaded Stanford’s borders and no Co-eds infiltrated Tent City. Shortly after the building started the war department halted the effort for three months. The original troops, the 41st Infantry Division National Guard from Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Wyoming were moved east to Camp Greene, but then the 8 Division, Regular Army was transferred in and remained until the dismantling.
The troops which had trained to join the war efforts in France never did reach Europe. Some 5000, however, did serve time in Siberia. Michael Svanevik’s article "When ‘the forgotten army’ went to Siberia", The San Mateo Times, Friday, Aug 19, 1988 pg B3, tells a little of the tale of the Siberian intervention.
 |
| NostalgiaOnWheels |
Today a few remainders of the 1000 plus Camp buildings dot the landscape of Menlo Park. The popular McArthur Park restaurant and the Oasis Beer Garden are housed in remnants of the vast camp and the Veterans Center on Willow Road was the base hospital.
Many of the 43000 men who served at Camp Fremont were recent emigres to the United States. In accordance with legislation passed at the time of the Civil War, the naturalization process was changed to honor their efforts for their new country. In all nearly 3200 men took advantage of the opportunity to become United States citizens before the base closed. SMCGS has indexed the Camp Fremont Naturalization Records.
- Fremont the Flirt! Unearthing Stanford's World War I Battleground
- World War 1 Army Training by San Francisco Bay: The Story of Camp Fremont by Barbara Wilcox - book
- Wikipedia - Camp Fremont
- Camp Fremont Documentary ( brycewcr) - Created as a volunteer project for the VAPAHCS Menlo Park division 75th anniversary celebration.
- In Menlo - One building – and a web of tunnels – is all that remains of Menlo’s military past, Camp Fremont
- Camp Fremont - Trench Warfare in Menlo Park
- Francis Madden - Student Army Training Corps - Stanford University (Influenza)
- 25-27 University Ave - Hostess House
- Doughboys of Menlo Park For the geocachers in your family
No comments:
Post a Comment