Camp Maxey

Recognizing in 1940 that hosting peacetime draftees might revive Lamar County’s economy, the city of Paris asked the army to build a training camp there, while the local American Legion acquired land options. Delegations from the Lamar County Chamber of Commerce won initial support, but Congressman Lyndon Johnson moved the planned camp to his district at Bastrop. In response, U.S. Senator Tom Connally and army officials secured a camp for Paris, confirmed in July 1941. The 70,000-acre site was under survey when the U.S. entered World War II in December. Camp Maxey, named for C.S.A. General and U.S. Senator Sam Bell Maxey of Paris, was activated on July 15, 1942. Its main entrance was Gate 5, marked by stone portals at this site. Two infantry divisions, the 102nd “Ozark” and 99th “Checkerboard,” trained there along with the 250th Field Artillery and other army units. The reservation also included a regional hospital and a prisoner of war camp that held 7,000 Germans. Local women formed the “Maxey Command” to host dances for the 194,800 soldiers stationed there in total, while area residents housed thousands of dependents and filled 10,300 civilian jobs on the base. The camp closed after the P.O.W. stockade was vacated in early 1946.

Texas · United States