The Trinity Peninsula Chamber of Commerce was represented by Pat Fish, Julia McMichael, Roberta Sims and Mary Anne Tyler at the dedication of the Official Texas Historical Marker for Camp Huntsville World War II Prisoner of War Camp on Friday, April 27th.
The ceremony was lead by William A. McWhorter, Military Historian for the Texas Historical Commision, and James D. Patton, Chair of the Walker County Historical Commision. The TPCC was invited because of their involvement in the establishment of Camp Hunstville in 1942.
Camp Huntsville was one the first Prisoner of War camps built in the US during the war. Construction was completed on September 18, 1942. Built to house 3,000 POWs, the camp had more than 400 buildings. The first POWs, members of Germany's Afrika Korps, arrived in the spring of 1943. In September 1945, the camp's German POWs were sent to Camp Hearne in preparation for the arrival of a small group of Japanese POWs before their return to Japan and the camp closed on January 5, 1946.
Later that year the government transferred more than 800 acres and 405 buildings to Sam Houston State Teachers College for use as a country campus.
