Okemah POW Camp - Okemah, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 35° 26.150 W 096° 18.480
14S E 744369 N 3924706
The Okemah National Guard Armory, and the adjacent Pecan Bowl athletic field were used as a German POW camp during WWII.
Waymark Code: WMZDT9
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 10/26/2018
Views: 2
The armory was built during the period 1935 to 1937. It is a one-story building constructed of native sandstone that is currently used by the City of Okemah as their public works barn. It is located at 405 N. 6th Street. (Coordinates shown above).
The west portion of the armory has a high barrel roof and contains the drill floor. The east section has a flat roof with two overhead doors on the south, and an office wing along the east-facing facade. The armory was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
Located to the North at the intersection of 7th and Denver, the Pecan Bowl stands on a two-block property, just behind the National Guard Armory. (N 35 26.237 W 96 18.442). A rock wall about 8 feet high surrounds the entire two fields. Rock grandstands are located on the east and west sides of the football field, and a covered grandstand in the southwest corner provides seating for the baseball field. The stadiums are still used today by the Okemah school system.
These two WPA-constructed venues were a branch of the Camp Gruber. Approximately 130 German POWs were housed here from Nov. 1, 1944 to Nov. 16, 1945. German POWs were well cared for, and had many amenities during their confinement. Some even chose to work outside the camp, helping on the local farms, and they were paid for their work at the end of their confinement. Upon returning to Germany at the end of the war, many chose to return with their families, and others who stayed in Germany and began businesses had only good things to say about the United States.
Evidence can be seen today by the bars erected over the Pecan Bowl entrances, and the iron rods on the top of the walls which held razor wire. There were eight base camps in Oklahoma, and 24 branch camps housing temporary work parties from the base camps.