Fort Snelling's size has fluctuated over the years as war campaigns brought many new people to the fort and led to new construction. Some buildings were temporary and built to last between five and twenty years, while permanent buildings of stone and brick lasted much longer. Most of the Upper Post's stone and brick buildings were constructed during the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War, when new barracks were added for infantry, cavalry, and artillery units. During World War I, Fort Snelling served as an officers' training school and processing center for thousands of recruits, and the Army built dozens of temporary buildings on land that is now part of the airport, an area soldiers nicknamed the Turkey Farm. In September 1940, Fort Snelling became an Army reception center where service members were outfitted, trained, and sent to their units. At its peak in 1942, the fort inducted 800 soldiers every day, and more than 300,000 men and women passed through during the war. Early in World War II, many new soldiers lived in the World War I-era Turkey Farm. In 1943, the Army added 300 new temporary structures to the reception center. In 1945, many buildings were repurposed into a separation center where service members turned in uniforms and equipment before returning to civilian life.
