Fort Lewis (1)
Fort Lewis (1917-Active) - Fort Lewis was born out of World War I. In 1917, the Pierce County Electorate voted to bond themselves for $2,000,000 to purchase 70,000 acres for donation to the Federal Government for use as a military base. Camp Lewis was the first military installation to be created as the result of an outright gift of land by the citizens themselves. Camp Lewis received its name from Captain Meriwether Lewis from the Lewis and Clark Expedition of the 1804 - 1806 Corps of Discovery exploration for a "Northwest Passage" to the Pacific Ocean.
Construction began on 5 July 1917. In 90 days some 10,000 men built 1,757 buildings and 422 other structures, lighted, plumbed, and heated. Streets, roads, and railroad spurs were underway. When the buildings were completed, the workers subscribed $4,000 to build the main gate, which is still standing, however, moved from its original location due to construction of Interstate 5 highway during the 1950’s.
The 91st U.S. Infantry Division "Wild West" trained at Camp Lewis from September 1917 until it departed from France in June 1918. The 13th U.S. Infantry Division was in training when the war ended.
With peace, military appropriations were sharply reduced and Camp Lewis fell into neglect. Tacoma civic groups and newspapers demanded that the War Department return the land. In march 1926 Congress passed a 10-year building plan to revitalize several Army posts, to include Camp Lewis. The post was to have a new lease on life. On 30 September 1927 Camp Lewis was redesignated a Fort.
As World War II loomed in the future, Fort Lewis became more active. Between May 1939 and March 1941, the post population grew from 5,000 to 37,000 troops. To house the new soldiers, a 2000-acre North Fort Lewis complex was completed by August 1941.
The bombing of Pearl Harbor sent a tremor of fear through the West Coast. Troops from Fort Lewis helped secure McChord Field, Camp Murray, and Fort Lewis itself. As time went on, the nervousness eased, and the post got down to wartime business. Before the end of World War II the post had trained the 3rd U.S. Infantry Division, 33rd U.S. Infantry Division, 40th U.S. Infantry Division, 41st U.S. Infantry Division, 44th U.S. Infantry Division and 96th U.S. Infantry Division, plus many brigades and smaller size units. A camp for prisoners of war was established in July 1943 and was continued for 3 years.
In 1943, action was taken to enlarge the installation's training space. Over 18,000 acres south of the Nisqually River became known as Rainier Training Area. At war's end, Fort Lewis became home to the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division. In 1950 the 2nd became the first American division to leave the U.S. for fighting in Korea.
By the fall of 1950, thousands of recalled reservists, draftees, and many units were arriving at Fort Lewis, and once again the housing situation became acute. Construction began on two new regimental areas east of Gray Army Airfield in January 1952. At the end of the Korean conflict, Fort Lewis became home to the 4th U.S. Infantry Division.
The 4th U.S. Infantry Division departed for Vietnam in 1966. Fort Lewis became an Army Training Center for recruits, and a personnel center for processing soldiers to and from the Pacific. Those functions had processed over 2 1/2 million soldiers, and trained over 300,000 men by the time they were closed in the summer of 1972, when Fort Lewis became the home of the 9th U.S. Infantry Division.
In 1981, Fort Lewis also became home to I Corps. This senior headquarters is involved in the operation and training of active, reserve, and National Guard units from Alaska to Alabama, and from Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico.
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Location: Fort Lewis, Washington Maps & Images Lat: 47.09323 Long: -122.60995 |
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