Camp Fremont was a World War I-era military base located in Menlo Park near Palo Alto, California. Construction started in July 1917 and the post closed in September, 1919. The post was named for John C. Frémont, a US Army officer and government official who was prominent in California during the 1850s.
Creation of post
Camp Fremont was constructed on vacant land in and around the area of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.Annual Report of the Secretary of War, published by U.S. War Department, 1920, Volume 2, page 1644Annual Report of the University President, published by Stanford University, 1918, page 23 Camp Fremont consisted of slightly more than and contained approximately 1,125 structures, mostly temporary buildings constructed of wood.The New International Year Book, 1918, page 718 During preparation for possible entry into World War I, the U.S. Army determined a need existed for a post on the west coast of the United States to train National Guard units for combat.
Construction started on July 24, 1917, and the new installation was named in honor of Major General John C. Fremont, an early hero of California.Newspaper article, Work Progressing On Camp Fremont, Berkeley Daily Gazette, July 27, 1917Newspaper article, Camp Fremont, Palo Alto, Will Be Completed, Deseret News, August 25, 1917Newspaper article, Fremont's Telephone System Completed, San Jose Evening News, November 10, 1917Newspaper article, Angelino Builds Army Cantonment, Los Angeles Times, November 11, 1917Compiled Monthly Bulletins, California State Board of Health, 1917, page 158
World War I Camp Fremont served as a training site for the National Guard's 41st Infantry Division, which included soldiers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming. The 41st Division was later moved to Camp Greene, where it completed its training before departing for fighting in France., Los Angeles Times, May 16, 1918The US Army in World War I - Orders of Battle, Richard A. Rinaldi, 2004, page 216The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1922, Volume 17, page 530The Official History of the Washington National Guard, published by the Washington National Guard, 1961, page 525
In August, 1918, Camp Fremont was home to the 12th Infantry. In the autumn of 1918, the flu pandemic hit Camp Fremont and killed 147.
The 8th Infantry Division then occupied Camp Fremont. Slated for combat in France, the 8th Division was later assigned the mission of fighting in Russia during the Siberian Intervention.Newspaper article, History Of The Eighth Division, Ellensburg (Washington) Daily Record, December 31, 1919Harper's Pictorial Library of the World War, 1920, Volume 5, page 368America's Part in the World War, by Richard Joseph Beamish and Francis Andrew March, 1919, page 560
Camp Fremont was also home to the 332nd Auxiliary Remount Depot, part of the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. The depot was authorized 5,000 animals, and averaged about 2,300. Remount depots were organized to procure, train and condition horses and mules, and then dispatch them to the units that required them.The Army Veterinary Service During the Great War
Association with prominent individuals General John K. Cannon completed his initial military training at Camp Fremont.The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, compiled by J.T. White, Volume 46, 1963, page 239 Major General William S. Graves assumed command of the 8th Infantry Division at Camp Fremont in 1918.Anne Cipriano Venzon, The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia, 2013, page 263 Warren Grimm, All-American football player and Army officer, completed his training at Camp Fremont before taking part in the Siberian Intervention.Historical Roster, 12th Infantry Regiment , Sarge's Home Page web site, by Bruce Holzhauer, accessed March 10, 2011 Philip Johnston, one of the organizers of the World War II Navajo code talkers, was a World War I veteran who had trained at Camp Fremont.Biography, Philip Johnston, American National Biography Online (February 2000), Published by Oxford University Press, accessed March 10, 2011 Brigadier General Alfred A. Starbird, commanded the 8th Field Artillery Brigade during World War I Brigadier General James Edward Wharton was stationed at Camp Fremont at the start of his career during World War I.New Mexico World War I Records, 1917-1919, entry for James Edward Wharton, retrieved March 4, 2014 Lieutenant General Laurin L. Williams served at Camp Fremont as a second lieutenant.Official U.S. Army Directory, published by U.S. Army Adjutant General, 1918, page 96
Post closing and legacy After the end of World War I combat, there was no longer a use for Camp Fremont, and the Army ordered the post closed. The base hospital was acquired by the Public Health Service from the War Department and opened as "United States Public Health Service Hospital No. 24" on April 2, 1919. The 90 acre facility was operated as a tuberculosis sanitorium, with a capacity of 570 beds. The remaining buildings were sold at auction, and the camp was abandoned in January 1920.Historic Spots in California, by Mildred Brooke Hoover, et al., revised by Douglas E. Kyle, 1990, page 382
Several new businesses were begun in Menlo Park and Palo Alto to provide goods and services to soldiers at Camp Fremont, many of which stayed in existence after the post closed. Menlo Park received its first paved streets and its first municipal water and gas services during World War I, both of which were constructed by the 8th Division engineers.Palo Alto Online article, The Peninsula Mobilizes for War , by Don Kazak, undated
Present day The post hospital on Willow Road in Menlo Park later became the site of a Veterans Administration hospital. It is now also the location of Stanford University's Arbor Free Clinic.Early History page , Menlo Park History web site, undated
Two popular restaurants, MacArthur Park (which once housed Palo Alto's community center) and the Oasis Beer Garden (now closed) are both located in former Camp Fremont buildings.Palo Alto Online article, The Peninsula Mobilizes for War , by Don Kazak, undated
Fremont Park, in downtown Menlo Park, has a plaque commemorating Camp Fremont.
In popular culture Camp Fremont gained a new degree of fame when it was referenced as the military base to which Master Sergeant Ernie Bilko was assigned (played by Phil Silvers) in the 1950s television sitcom The Phil Silvers Show.
References
External links
Camp Fremont Documentary at YouTube.com World War I Army Training by San Francisco Bay: The Story of Camp Fremont. Book by Barbara Wilcox, History Press, 2016.