A Texas Historical Marker, erected in 2006 briefly tells the history:
Camp Huntsville, completed here in 1942, was one of the first prisoner of war (POW) camps built in the U.S. during World War II. Designed to house 3,000 POWs, it had more than 400 buildings, as well as eight branch camps. The first POWs, part of Germany's Afrika Corps, arrived in spring 1943, and by fall the population peaked at 4840. Late in the war the camp became a branch of Camp Hearne (Robertson Co.). In Sept. 1945, Camp Huntsville sent its German POWs to Camp Hearne in preparation for the arrival of Japanese POWs at this site. The camp closed on Jan. 5, 1946, and the government transferred more than 800 acres, including buildings, to Sam Houston State Teachers College for use as a country campus.
Huntsville Prisoner of War Camp
Combat operations during World War II occurred far away from the United States, mostly on distant Pacific isles or in European villages. However, a piece of World War II history did happen right here in East Texas. The United States held nearly half a million Axis prisoners of war (POWs) in 650 camps throughout the country. Texas housed roughly 50,000 of these POWs in 70 camps throughout the state.
Camp Huntsville served as one the first and largest POW camps in Texas. Completed in 1942, the camp opened the following April, when German prisoners captured in North Africa arrived In East Texas. By the end of 1943, Camp Huntsville housed roughly 4,800 prisoners, most from Germany’s famed Afrika Korps. American military personnel at Camp Huntsville offered fair and humane treatment of prisoners who received ample food, fair working conditions, and a wide array of recreational activities.
Although German prisoners were captured while fighting for the Third Reich, not all the prisoners supported the Nazi government or its war aims. In fact, there were harsh disagreements between the Nazi and anti-Nazi elements at Camp Huntsville. In November 1943, these tensions exploded in a riot at the camp that sparked national news coverage and contributed to a call for reform at POW sites around the country.
As a result of tensions between Nazis and anti-Nazis, American officials created a program designed to re-educate POWs in American democratic traditions and history. Many Germans at Camp Huntsville listened to lectures, watched movies, and read materials that celebrated the virtues of the U.S. Constitution and American Bill of Rights. The Geneva Conventions banned political indoctrination, however, so the United States packaged the re-education program as voluntary “intellectual diversion.”
In 1944, as part of re-education, camp officials started showing newsreels that demonstrated the horrors of Buchenwald and Auschwitz. Many German POWs thought that Americans had faked these films as propaganda. Nevertheless, after the introduction of the re-education programs, Nazi solidarity, control, and violence decreased at Camp Huntsville.
During the early days of the war, federal officials had largely ignored educational programming for the small number of Japanese POWs. The Japanese prisoners had not caused problems as the German Nazis had. However, on July 18, 1945, the Secretary of War secretly authorized a re-education program for some pre-screened “cooperative” Japanese POWs. Camp Huntsville was selected as the lone site to carry out the program due to its location and experience re-educating POWs.
In September of 1945, Camp Huntsville sent its remaining German POWs to Camp Hearne to make room for the incoming Japanese prisoners. The United States hoped to create some pro-American, pro-democracy sentiment before repatriation; 200 Japanese moved to Huntsville for a crash course on October 5, 1945. These POWs translated U.S. documents and lectures into Japanese. Professors from nearby Sam Houston State Teachers College gave lectures with titles like, “The Need for Opportunity in Japan for Building a Liberal Democratic Nation,” and “Contrasts: Pseudo-Freedom in Japan and Real Freedom in U.S.” The Japanese re-education program ended on December 15, 1945 and the POWs returned home.
Today an official Texas Historical Marker marks the spot of the entrance to the former Camp Huntsville, a small reminder that this spot was witness to a piece of World War II. It was here that thousands of soldiers spent their war.
Rachael Larkin, “Huntsville Prisoner of War Camp,” East Texas History, accessed June 11, 2018,
Source
Camp Huntsville WWII Prisoner of War Camp
Camp Huntsville was one of the first prisoner of war camps built in the U.S. during World War II and the first in Texas. It was was built in the spring and summer of 1942 and included facilities to accommodate 4,800 prisoners. It consisted of more than 400 buildings, including a cafeteria, gymnasium, laundry, and hospital. There were clubs for commissioned and noncommissioned officers, and separate barracks for the American and prisoner personnel.
The first prisoners to use the camp were members of Germany’s Afrika Korps who arrived in the spring of 1943. By the fall of the same year, the camp’s population hit its peak at 4,840. Two years later, it became a branch camp for Camp Hearne where its prisoners were sent to make way for the arrival of a small group of Japanese prisoners. The Army closed the camp in December 1945, and all prisoners were repatriated.
The American government ran a classified re-education program for German and Japanese prisoners at the camp. Camp Huntsville was the only camp in the country to house a Japanese re-education program. Faculty members from Sam Houston State Teachers College participated in the program, giving lectures on “The Necessity of a Free Mind in Search of the Truth,” “Contrasts: Pseudo-Freedom in Japan and Real Freedom in U.S.,” “The Main Points of the Declaration of Independence,” and the “Fundamental Rights of Man as Set Forth in the Bill of Rights.”
After the War the Camp was donated to Sam Houston State Teachers' College (now Sam Houston State University), who renamed it the Country Campus and turned it into an almost a self-sustaining city with living quarters for students and professors, a hospital, post office, fire department, meat processing plant, gymnasium and cafeteria.
After the University closed the Country Campus and sold the land to Sam Dominey, the son of the original owners. A few of the original buildings remain, and the land is used for cattle ranching.
The Camp Huntsville site is located about 10 miles northeast of Huntsville on SH 19 near the City of Riverside. A State Historical Marker is located at the entrance to the site.
Walker County History
Sun Setting On Country Campus
Historic golf course where prisoner-of-war camp once was located will close at end of business Monday
By Tom Waddill / Editor Jul 30, 2017
Country Campus lasted longer than a lot of bigger and better golf courses. In a couple of days, though, the countryside nine-hole course built in 1948 will join Waterwood National, Outlaw Gap, Texas National and Bluebonnet Country in East Texas’ growing golf course graveyard.
That’s right, Country Campus is closing on Tuesday.
Owned by the late Sam Dominey, designed by Dewitte Holleman and Reed Lindsey and operated for the past seven years by Donna and Ernest King, Country Campus will be open for business today and Monday, then the Kings are going to clear out the old golf shop and head home while Dominey’s widow and her family expand their cattle ranch on State Highway 19 where the golf course has operated for the last 69 years.
“I hate to see it go,” Ennis Hawkins said Friday while finishing up a quick nine-hole walk around the Country Campus links.
Hawkins has been a regular at Country Campus for about 50 years. The only “member” left at Country Campus, Hawkins, a retired accounting professor at Sam Houston State University, says he’s going to miss his leisurely strolls around the course.
“I’ve been worrying about where I’m going to walk now,” Hawkins said. “I don’t want to get out and walk on the streets. That’s too dangerous. I’ve got a couple of other options, but I’m sure sad to see Country Campus close.”
Barbara Dominey said she’s feeling blue, too. She’d like to keep the course open for years to come, but financially, that’s not a wise decision.
“The golf course has been losing money forever,” Dominey said Friday. “When Raven Nest opened up (in 2001), that took even more business from us. If this was an emotional thing, I’d leave the golf course open forever, but it’s financial. I hate to close the course down because it’s been around for a long time, but when you have a business that can’t even seem to break even, you’ve got to do something.
“The Kings have done a wonderful job trying to make the golf course go,” she added, “but since Raven Nest opened, things really started going downhill on a slide. This is purely a financial decision.”
Country Campus has struggled for years. Owned and operated by SHSU for much of its existence, Country Campus was never known for its plush fairways and pristine greens. Ernest King honestly called what’s played at Country Campus “cow-pasture golf,” and he’s correct.
Still, people who don’t take the game too seriously have loads of fun at this short and scenic course. Green fees are reasonable and it doesn’t take all day to play a round.
“For the longest time, that was the only place around to really play golf,” New Waverly’s Tim Paulsel said Saturday. “We had Outlaw, but that was a par-3 course. Country Campus had nine holes of various lengths.
“That’s basically where I learned to play golf. A group of us from New Waverly would go out there and play at least once a weekend — either after church on Sunday or on Saturdays. I hate to see it coming to a close.”
Lots of people like Paulsel learned to play the game here. They came back because they had a good time. The atmosphere has always been relaxed and laid-back. It’s a place where the focus is more on fun than shooting super-low scores.
“People love this place. They come out here to relax and have fun,” Donna King said with a smile. “They can take their time playing, drink their beer and have lots of laughs with their friends and families. We’ve had a number of bachelor parties out here. We have a regular Sunday scramble. This is just a fun place to play golf.”
Huntsville Item Online