US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Dix, NJ)

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4 v HISTGRY 0F ForT Dix, a name which evolces memories To liTerally millions oT servicemen and women who passed Through iT or who served There, came inTo being I8 July l9l7 by General Order oT The War DeparT- menT over The signaTure oT lvlaior General llaTer Generali Taslcer H. Bliss, AcTing ChieT oT STaTT, designaTing a large area in The viciniTy oT WrighTsTown, BurlingTon CounTy, New Jersey, Then under con- sTrucTion as an Army camp, as Camp Dix. The name was selecTed in commemoraTion OT John Adams Dix, H798-l879l, a renowned Tigure on The American scene, soldier, sTaTesman, diplomaT, cabineT member. Camp Dix, which was redesignaTed as ForT Dix in 1939, covered an area oT TiTTy-Tive l55l square miles, 7,474 acres. lin 1950, 32,863 acres.l The greaTer parT oT This area was leased, however, The pur- chase oT The land Tor which 5700.000 was appropriaTed was ac- complished Tinally Tor abouT 5550.000 lT is locaTed sevenTeen lI7l miles below TrenTon in The cenTer oT a Triangle Tormed by New York, Philadelphia and ATlanTic CiTy. In May l9l7, The area was mapped by an Army uniT and The consTrucTion conTracT awarded To lrwin and LeighTon, Philadelphia, Pa. lT was planned To uTilize abouT halT The area Tor riTle and arTillery ranges and The remainder To house abouT 40,000 Troops. WrighTs- Town became The scene oT Teverish acTiviTy and as our parTicipaTion in World War l became a TacT and The SelecTive Service AcT oT l9I7 progressed, approximaTely 40,000 men enTered Camp Dix. Buildings sprang up almosT overnighT and by November I9l8, The camp consisTed oT l,655 buildings, including several leased Tarm houses sTill sTanding and in use as oTTicers' quarTers. There were acTually I43 diTTerenT Types oT buildings.

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Zncl L+ Ru+l1 L. Ma+++1ews ls+ L+ Irene Newman ls+ L+ Jean Niss Is+ L+ Elizabe+l1 Ruch Is+ L+ Oc+avia S. Snay ls+ L+ Corinne T. Seago ls+ L+ Fay E. Smiley Is+ L+ Na+alie Seliber Is+ L+ Alice M. S+one Is+ L+ Mar++la E. S+olxes Is+ L+ Ka+l1leen Triiclr Is+ L+ Ceridwen Williams

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Camp Dix rapidly became a good sized selT-suTTicienT ciTy capable OT handling iTs own problems and many which relaTed To neighboring communiTies. Adjoining Townships delegaTed by ordi- nance To The Army The righT To police, regulaTe and resTricT TraTTic wiThin reasonable regulaTions on The WrighTsTown-New Lisbon and PoinTville-PemberTon Roads. The Camp Dix Fire DeparTmenT was organized in OcTober I9l7 and operaTed six lol sTaTions and a Tire Truck and hose company. A huge bakery wiTh a daily capaciTy oT ThirTy-six Thousand l36,000l pounds oT bread was builT and soon addiTional ovens were required. CompleTe uTiliTy TaciliTies including a 3,000 gallon per minuTe pumping planT Tor waTer, a sewage disposal plan+ and sewerage sysTem was consTrucTed. EighT and one-halT l8V2l miles OT sTandard gauge Track were laid inTo The camp by The Penn- sylvania Railroad. The 200,000 gallon sTeel waTer Tower on The WrighTsTown-PemberTon Road, one oT The TirsT proiecTs compleTed, sTill sTands. No picTure oT The acTiviTy oT Camp Dix during World War l would be compleTe wiThouT menTioning The animals which played such an imporTanT parT in l9l7-I8. Over 7,000 mules and horses, sTabled aT a large remounT sTaTion, were used. The TirsT Army division acTivaTed aT The posT was The 78Th lLighTningl Division. This uniT consisTed principally OT NaTional Guardsmen Trom New York, New Jersey and Delaware, wiTh a Tew selecTive service men Trom Pennsylvania. Maier General Chase W. Kennedy, TirsT Commanding General, 78Th Division, became The TirsT Camp Commander. General Kennedy was succeeded by Major General Hugh L. ScoTT, who remained Commanding General oT The