Camp Perry was named in honor of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, U.S.N., victor in the Battle of Lake Erie. It was authorized on April 16, 1906, by appropriation of the 77th General Assembly of Ohio, and the National Matches were first held there in 1907. During World War I, from 1917 to 1918, the federal government used it as a concentration camp. It was dedicated on July 1, 1936, by a memorial committee appointed by Martin L. Davey, Governor of Ohio, and dedicated to Brigadier General Ammon B. Critchfield, whose devotion to national defense and zeal in promoting rifle marksmanship while serving as adjutant general of Ohio made the reservation possible.