Camp Blair was named after Governor Austin Blair, Michigan's Civil War Governor from 1861-65, who was from Jackson, visited the camp several times, and is buried in Mount Evergreen Cemetery in Jackson. During the Civil War, Camp Blair was a major federal military headquarters that served many purposes, including as a draft rendezvous point and a convalescing center for thousands of Union troops from 1863-1866. Its buildings included Quartermaster and Commissary buildings where supplies were received and issued, Post Headquarters, barracks that could house 100 men at a time, a 100-bed hospital, and a bakery in the 11-acre camp. The camp was commanded by Colonel Grover Wormer and later by Brigadier General Lysander Cutler, and it was demolished in 1866.