Camp Atterbury's Origin

Camp Atterbury traces its origins back to the late 1930's. With war clouds looming, land surveys were made in the rolling farm country and woodlands west of Edinburgh, Indiana.

The Franklin Surveying firm, the Hurd Company, was contracted to prepare an initial report detailing the features available and what would be necessary to construct for an Army cam of more than 40,000 acres.  In 1941, the "HURD REPORT" was finalized and sent to Congress. (See HURD REPORT)

In April, 1941, the War Department announced plans to build the post.

An estimated 500 to 600 farm families were displaced as the Army took over 40,000 acres. Two communities, Kansas and Mount Pisgah, disappeared forever. Construction started in February, 1942 and ended only seven months later with 1,780 buildings erected at a cost of 38 million dollars.

The camp began operation on June 2, 1942 and the first of the over 275,000 soldiers who trained here during World War II began pouring in. An enemy prisoner of war camp was built in late 1942. It later held 3,000 Italian prisoners, some of whom built the Chapel in the Meadow (POW Chapel), which still stands today. By war's end, over 9,000 German prisoners were held at Camp Atterbury and satellite camps in the surrounding area.

The post was inactivated in December 1946 and opened again in August 1950 for the Korean War, then closed again 3 years and 8 months later. With the end of hostilities, portions of Camp Atterbury were dismantled.

In 1969, Camp Atterbury was licensed to the Military Department of Indiana by the US Army. Serving as the primary training site for Indiana National Guard, the post also serves as a regional training site for other National Guard, active, and reserve component forces. Considerable capital investments in range construction, billeting and support facilities were being made beginning in the 1980's.

With a continuing series of improvements and new construction, Atterbury passes the half-century mark of service to America's soldiers and citizens. Poised to move forward into the next century as one of America's premier training sites, Camp Atterbury stands ready to serve your training needs.

Page last revised 10/21/2022
James D. West
www.IndianaMilitary.org
Host106th@106thInfDivAssn.org