DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker for Camp Wallace is the text I'm working from, so here's how I tell it. Now, before you roll past this stretch of State Highway 6 between Hitchcock and Alta Loma and think it's just flat Galveston County land doing nothing in particular — let me tell you what more than three thousand three hundred acres of Texas can become when the world catches fire. Camp Wallace.
Named for World War I army Colonel Elmer J. Wallace. And the story of how fast this place came to life is something worth slowing down for.
Construction began in November 1940. But here's the thing — before a single structure went up, somebody had to make sure you could get there, and stay lit up, and move supplies once you arrived. So first came seventeen miles of access roads.
Then twenty-nine miles of electrical lines. Then a two-point-nine-mile spur rail track laid out from the main rail line. All of that before the buildings.
They weren't just building a camp; they were building the bones of a small city out of open ground. And a city is exactly what it became. The finished site held three hundred and ninety-nine structures in total.
Some of those buildings weren't even built on-site — they were constructed over at Galveston's Fort Crockett and transported out to the camp. A cold storage depot. A bakery.
A laundry. And a morgue. Because whoever planned this place understood that a training facility during a world war has to be ready for all of it.
By May 1941, Camp Wallace was accommodating ten thousand two hundred and fifty people — officers, enlisted personnel, and civilian staff — all operating in the middle of what had recently been open Texas land. The camp had a medical facility, a service club, and one hundred and sixty-one barracks. Training continued through the length of World War II.
The site also housed German prisoners of war. Just sit with that a moment. The same ground where American soldiers trained for the fight was also holding the men they were fighting against.
Then April 1945, and the war winding toward its end — Camp Wallace was transferred to naval supervision. After that it shifted again, this time into a different kind of service: a distribution center, releasing veterans back into civilian life. Men who came in as soldiers, walked out as something else.
The camp helped make that transition happen. And it still wasn't done. In 1947, the Red Cross used the site following the explosions at Texas City.
The camp that had trained thousands and held prisoners and sent veterans home — it answered one more call. Later that same year, 1947, the U.S. government declared it surplus. Three thousand three hundred acres.
Three hundred and ninety-nine structures. Seventeen miles of roads built before a single wall went up. Named for a World War I colonel, forged in a World War II emergency, and still standing ready when Texas needed it one last time.
Some land just carries more history than it looks like it should.
What the marker says
Named for World War I army Colonel Elmer J. Wallace, Camp Wallace was established as a training facility for military personnel during World War II. The U. S. government acquired more than 3,300 acres of land between the towns of Hitchcock and Alta Loma on State Highway 6 for placement of the facility. Construction began in November 1940. Before the erection of structures, 17 miles of access roads were built, 29 miles of electrical lines were installed, and a 2.9-mile spur rail track from the main rail line were laid. The site contained a total of 399 structures. Some buildings were constructed at Galveston's Fort Crockett and transported to the site, including a cold storage depot, bakery, laundry, and morgue. The camp contained a medical facility, 161 barracks, and a service club. By May 1941 the camp accommodated 10,250 people, including officers, enlisted personnel, and civilian staff. Training continued through World War II. The site also housed German prisoners of war. In April 1945, Camp Wallace was transferred to naval supervision, and later served as a distribution center releasing veterans back into civilian life. The site was used by the Red Cross in 1947 following the explosions at Texas City. The camp was declared surplus by the U. S. government in 1947. (1996)