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

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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

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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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Piciorial sTory of barracks being buili in one day. posT and was succeeded I5 March l9l8 as Division Commander by Brigadier General James T. Dean who Turned over command 20 April l9I8 To lvlaior General James l-l. McRae. General McRae led The division inTo acTion overseas and remained in command oT The division unTil demobilizaTion. The 87Th lAcornl Division, selecTees Trom Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, whose iniTial Training was accomplished aT Camp Pike, Arkansas, compleTed Their Training here and aTTer de- parTure overseas were succeeded by The 34Th TSandsTorml Division, NaTional Guardsmen Trom lvlinnesoTa, iowa, Nebraska and NorTh and SouTh DakoTa. In The lasT Tew monThs oT World War l, The lO2d Division was acTivaTed aT Camp Dix and was The TirsT uniT demobilized. The Treasury DeparTmenT selecTed Camp Dix as an ideal siTe Tor moving picTures To spark The FiTTh l.iberTy Loan Drive. Over f1iI00,000 was invesTed in simulaTed acTions Tilmed near The waTer TilTraTion planT in The Trench area which circled easTward Toward PoinTville and incorporaTing The heavily wooded Terrain which sur- rounded iT. RecreaTional and morale acTiviTies were widespread. The l.iberTy TheaTre was erecTed aT New Jersey Avenue and 9Th STreeT. The Y.M.C.A. mainTained nine lcil huTs and an audiTorium, The KnighTs oT Columbus Three l3l huTs and an audiTorium and a swimming pool, The Jewish WelTare Board a building aT 5Th STreeT and New Jersey Avenue, The Episcopal Diocese oT New Jersey The ST. George Club in PoinTville, The American Red Cross, a building aT 8Th STreeT and New York Avenue and a convalescenT secTion in The base hospiTal, The SalvaTion Army, a building in WrighTsTown llaTer a Service Clubl on The main corner in 'VVrighTsTown now occupied by The ForT Dix inn. This club was operaTed under The managemenT oT The War DeparTmenT Commission on Training Camp AcTiviTies. The ChrisTian Science OrganizaTion operaTed a recreaTional cenTer aT New Jersey Avenue and 8Th STreeT. A l-losTess l-louse was locaTed on Delaware Avenue iusT beyond 8Th STreeT and The Camp CommuniTy Service consTrucTed iTs acTiviTies building on The edges oT camp on The road To WrighTsTown. A Service Club was consTrucTed Trom salvage maTerials by The 303d Engineers Tor iTs own use aT The corner oT Delaware Avenue and The WrighTsTown-PemberTon Road. lT was laTer Turned over To The KnighTs oT Columbus Tor iTs No. 4 huT. There was a PosT OTTice aT New Jersey Avenue and 8Th STreeT wiTh a sTaTT OT TorTy-Three T431 clerks. During May I9l8, 75,000 pieces oT mail were received and 6l,000 dispaTched. From l May To 23 May I9I8, 26,000 special delivery leTTers were received. The American Library AssociaTion esTablished The Camp library wiTh a branch aT The Y.M.C.A. No. I huT. WiTh The cooperaTion oT The TrenTon Times, Two l2l newspapers were published, The Trench and Camp Weekly and The Camp Dix Times. The laTTer was