Camp Croft, constructed in 1940-41, was named for Greenville native Maj. Gen. Edward Croft (1875-1938). It was one of nine U.S. Army Infantry Replacement Training Centers during World War II, where more than 250,000 soldiers took basic and specialty training courses. The camp contained more than 600 buildings, almost half of them barracks, on a 19,000 acre site between S.C. Hwys. 56 and 176. Its units were designated as the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Infantry Training Regiments. Between 1944 and 1946, it also housed as many as 900 German prisoners of war, who were hired out to work on local farms and forests. Camp Croft was deactivated and sold to the Spartanburg County Foundation in April 1947; 7000 acres became Croft State Park, now Croft State Natural Area, and the rest was developed for industries and homes.