Camp Wolters began in 1921 with the organization of the 56th Cavalry Brigade of the Texas National Guard under Brigadier General Jacob F. Wolters. In 1925, Wolters secured a federal grant to construct the camp, which became the headquarters for all National Guard mounted cavalry in Texas. The city of Mineral Wells purchased 57 acres just east of the city limits and presented it to the State of Texas for the headquarters, and the original camp stood where Mineral Wells High School now stands. In 1940, Camp Wolters, then containing 7500 acres, was selected as the site of the Infantry Replacement Training Center. Eighteen thousand men worked around the clock for three and a half months to complete the center. During World War Two, Camp Wolters was the nation’s largest Infantry Replacement Training Center and at its peak housed 30,000 men at one time. The center was inactivated on January 19, 1946. After the war, the War Department sold Camp Wolters to a group of Mineral Wells businessmen, who turned it into Camp Wolters Enterprises, Inc. In February 1951, the camp was reactivated and redesignated Wolters Air Force Base to house the newly formed Aviation Engineers Force. In 1956, the base was transferred to the U.S. Army and the Army Primary Helicopter School was established. In 1963, the base was redesignated Fort Wolters, and in 1966 the post became the U.S. Army Primary Helicopter Center. It was the largest primary helicopter training center in the world until it closed in 1974.