Soon after the United States' entrance into World War I in 1917, the U.S. Army established Camp Logan on this site on July 18, 1917, as one of 34 training camps to prepare troops for warfare. Named for General John A. Logan, a Mexican War and Civil War veteran and senator from Illinois, it encompassed 7,600 acres and included a main camp, auxiliary remount depot, rifle range, artillery range, and drill grounds. During construction, members of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry, Black troops commanded by White officers, served as guards and were stationed about a mile to the east. Their armed revolt on August 23, 1917, in response to Houston's Jim Crow laws and police harassment became the camp's most publicized incident, the Houston Mutiny and Riot of 1917. Troops trained there included the 33rd Division of the Illinois National Guard, part of the 93rd Division, and other Regular Army units, which later served in battle in France in 1918. Camp Logan closed on March 20, 1919, and part of its land later became Memorial Park, named in tribute to the soldiers who fought in Europe.