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Camp Huntville WWII Prisoner of War Camp

Camp Huntsville was one of the first prisoner of war camps built in the U.S. during World War II and the first in Texas. It was was built in the spring and summer of 1942 and included facilities to accommodate 4,800 prisoners. It consisted of more than 400 buildings, including a cafeteria, gymnasium, laundry, and hospital. There were clubs for commissioned and noncommissioned officers, and separate barracks for the American and prisoner personnel.

The first prisoners to use the camp were members of Germany’s Afrika Korps who arrived in the spring of 1943. By the fall of the same year, the camp’s population hit its peak at 4,840. Two years later, it became a branch camp for Camp Hearne where its prisoners were sent to make way for the arrival of a small group of Japanese prisoners. The Army closed the camp in December 1945, and all prisoners were repatriated.

The American government ran a classified re-education program for German and Japanese prisoners at the camp. Camp Huntsville was the only camp in the country to house a Japanese re-education program. Faculty members from Sam Houston State Teachers College participated in the program, giving lectures on “The Necessity of a Free Mind in Search of the Truth,” “Contrasts: Pseudo-Freedom in Japan and Real Freedom in U.S.,” “The Main Points of the Declaration of Independence,” and the “Fundamental Rights of Man as Set Forth in the Bill of Rights.”

After the War the Camp was donated to Sam Houston State Teachers' College (now Sam Houston State University), who renamed it the Country Campus and turned it into an almost a self-sustaining city with living quarters for students and professors, a hospital, post office, fire department, meat processing plant, gymnasium and cafeteria.

After the University closed the Country Campus and sold the land to Sam Dominey, the son of the original owners. A few of the original buildings remain, and the land is used for cattle ranching.

The Camp Huntsville site is located about 10 miles northeast of Huntsville on SH 19 near the City of Riverside. A State Historical Marker is located at the entrance to the site.