A ceremony to place a historical marker on the property once owned by Sam Houston State University and known as the Country Campus is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, April 27.
The marker will commemorate the site as one of the first prisoner of war camps built in the United States During World War II. The event is sponsored by the Texas and Walker County historical commissions.
The plaque that will be placed at 3299 Highway 19 reads: "Camp Huntsville was one of the first prisoner of war (POW) camps built in the U. S. during the war. On this site on September 18, 1942, construction was completed. Built to house 3,000 POWs, the camp had more than 400 buildings. The first POWs, members of Germany's Afrika Korps, arrived in the spring of 1943. By October of that year the camp's population peaked at 4840. As a large base POW camp it administered eight branch camps.
“Late in the war, Huntsville's status changed and it became a branch camp for Camp Hearne. In September 1945, the camp's German POWs were sent to Camp Hearne in preparation for the arrival of a small group of Japanese POWs before their return to Japan.
"The camp closed on January 5, 1946. Later that year the government transferred more than 800 acres and 405 buildings to Sam Houston State Teachers College for use as a Country Campus."
The property is now privately owned.
In the event of rain, the ceremony will be held at the Country Campus Baptist Church.
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