Camp Adair Hospital Chimney
Posted by: 
TheBeanTeam
N 44° 40.111 W 123° 13.042
10T E 482769 N 4946151
This smokestack is a lonely sentinel to the remains of Camp Adair. It was part of a heating plant for the hospital section.
Waymark Code: WM6AZP
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 05/05/2009
Views: 14
This chimney is located in the area that was dedicated to the hospital for the camp. Today it is part of the
EE Wilson Wildlife Area.
After the war this portion of the camp was turned over to the US Navy for use as a hospital and it was reported to have had 3,600 beds. Other areas of the camp were used as a prisoner of war camp for German and Italian soldiers. A wonderful history of the camp can be found at the Benton County Historical Societies online exhibit They Called it Swamp Adair"".
The Salem Public Libraries "Oregon Historic Photograph Collections" has many photographs digitized and online. They give an idea of the scope of the camp that cannot be garnered in words alone.
Camp Adair was for a brief time the second largest city in Oregon. it had over 1800 structures including theaters, chapels, barracks and more. This was a training ground for four infantry divisions during the Second World War. Today almost nothing remains.
The City of Adair Village was established in 1976 on the former military base. The City got its start in 1942 when it and the public infrastructure were constructed to serve the WWII Camp Adair and its approximately 45,000 persons stationed here during the height of the war. The Army abandoned the base after WWII and many of the structures were demolished or relocated. However, there remain a few remaining structures from the army days, which include the original smoke stack, a few remaining barracks that housed personnel for the hospital, and the AV Market and Pub which was the original Fire Station.
Coordinates for the parking area near the chimney are included in the variables below.