Site of World War II Prisoner of War Camp

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll let the land speak for itself. Now, Princeton, Texas doesn't look like the kind of place that holds a secret. Flat farmland, open sky, the kind of quiet that makes you think nothing much ever happened here.

But pull over a minute, because this stretch of ground has worn more than one face. It starts in 1941. The Honorable Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, one of the most powerful men in Washington, showed up right here to dedicate a migratory labor camp.

That's not a small thing. You don't get the Speaker of the House at your ribbon-cutting unless somebody thought this place mattered. And then the world changed.

With the coming of World War II later in that decade, federal officials converted the site. Same buildings, same Collin County dirt; different purpose entirely. This became a camp to hold German prisoners of war.

Right here. In Princeton, Texas. While they were here, those German soldiers worked on farms in the Princeton area, providing what the marker calls valuable labor assistance.

The war had pulled so many American hands away from the fields, and here was a patch of the enemy, working the land. In 1946, the prisoners were released. And this place, quiet as ever, unbothered by its own history, went right back to serving as a camp for migrant workers, same as it started.

Same ground. A labor camp, then a prisoner of war camp, then a labor camp again. Princeton kept its secret tucked right along the road, waiting for someone to slow down and listen.

What the marker says

Here in 1941, with the Hon. Sam Rayburn, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, in attendance, a migratory labor camp was dedicated. With the coming of World War II later in the decade, however, federal officials converted the site for use as a camp to hold German prisoners of war. While here, the German soldiers worked on Princeton area farms, providing valuable labor assistance. For many years following the prisoners release in 1946, this site again served as a camp for migrant workers. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986