History
Early History
Timucuan speaking Indians were the earliest natives known by European settlers to inhabit east and central Florida. The first military post in this area was Fort Heileman, established on Black Creek near present-day Middleburg in 1836 during the Second Seminole War. During the American Civil War, Federal troops occupied While Sulfur Springs (now known as Green Cove Springs), and patrols of Federal troops were sent to scout Starke in early 1864.
Company B, Fourth Separate Battalion, Florida State Troops was raised in Starke following the Civil War, and was one of the first to volunteer for service in the Spanish-American War. Prior to World War II, land on the west side of Kingsley Lake was marketed by Comer L. Peek, a real estate developer from Starke, for summer cottages.
Establishment of Camp Blanding
The establishment of Camp Blanding followed the sale of the first permanent Florida National Guard training site known as Camp Joseph E. Johnston (Camp Foster was FLNG name) to the Federal government which used the land to create Jacksonville Naval Air Station. The Armory Board chose the Kingsley Lake site in order to keep the training facility near Jacksonville. Just over 28,000 acres were acquired by the state of Florida between December 1939 and November 1940 by purchase or eminent domain condemnation. Money and labor for installation of water and sewer lines, as well as construction of fences and roads within the camp, were initially made available through the Work Projects Administration.
Original plans dictated by a contract between the War Department and State Armory Board called for a camp that could accommodate a regiment of infantry, but by early 1940, with a World War looming, it was decided to increase the capacity to an infantry brigade. By the end of 1940, the design was enlarged to support two infantry divisions and various support elements. Florida’s governor and the state Armory Board approved naming the complex after Major General Albert Hazen Blanding, former commander of the 31st Infantry “Dixie” Division and Chief of the National Guard Bureau.
World War II
In August 1940 Camp Blanding was federalized by US Government to be used by Army as training base for NG & Active Army Infantry Divisions. At that time the US Government acquired around 40,000 additional acres through eminent domain to go with the Florida’s 30,000. Over the next few months they acquired leases on another 80,000 acres east of the owned land to use as maneuver area. This brings Camp Blanding to around 150,000 acres
Following mobilization of the National Guard of the United States in November 1940, the 31st and 43rd Infantry Divisions were sent to Camp Blanding for their initial organization and training.
As the number of troops billeted at Camp Blanding rapidly increased, responsibility for construction was shifted from the Quartermaster Corps to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District.
Divisions serving time at Camp Blanding during the war included the 1st, 29th, 30th, 31st 36th, 43rd 63rd, 66th and 79th. Other units that trained there included the 508th parachute infantry regiment (separate) and the 6th cavalry regiment, 3 tank destroyer battalions, field artillery regiments and combat engineer organizations.
Beginning in June 1943 Camp Blanding started to prepare for a change in its mission. In August 1943, the last divisions departed Camp Blanding, which was immediately converted into an Infantry Replacement Training Center. Nearly 175,000 men were trained at the IRTC.
Because of Camp Blanding’s size, isolation and moderate climate, it served as a German Prisoner of War camp from September 1942 to April 1946. More than 4,000 men – soldiers, U-Boat sailors, and civilian “enemy aliens” – were detained at Camp Blanding.
During the war, Camp Blanding was Florida’s fourth largest city. It is estimated that more than 745,000 personnel served at Camp Blanding during World War II.
Post World War II Years
Following World War II, Camp Blanding was returned to the control of the Armory Board, which retained control of the original 28,000 acres, as well as all improvements made to the property, including the road, sewer, and water systems.
Most buildings were dismantled, sold or salvaged by the Army Camp Wrecking Corporation between 1947 and 1949.
In 1949, a “Concentration Site” was established at Camp Blanding under the command of then-Captain Harry Hatcher (one of the men who played a key role in the establishment of the Camp Blanding Museum) which was responsible for receiving and processing track and wheel vehicles from army depots and other federal sources for issue to the Florida National Guard.
From 1946 to 1955, Camp Blanding remained a “logistical support” site, although the Armory Board expanded the size of the facility with the addition of 40,000 acres of land that was still retained by the Federal government.
In 1956, a rebirth of the Camp began with the construction of a sub-caliber tank range to accommodate training of the newly designated 48th Armored Division, part of the Florida National Guard.
E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company entered into an agreement with the Armory Board in December 1947 to mine ilmenite, staurolite and zircon, becoming a major source of funding for operations at Camp Blanding sixty years.
In addition to range firing, staff conferences, map problems and unit exercises, use of Camp Blanding continued to increase in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A Florida National Guard Officers Candidate School was established in 1961 and a Non-Commissioned Officers School in 1975.
Special Forces groups began training at a Jungle Warfare Training Site established in 1965.
Camp Blanding was used as a staging center during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, providing food and maintenance support to the 101st Airborne Division as they awaited transport to Jacksonville for deployment to Kuwait.
Watch the Camp Blanding Documentary
This short documentary gives viewers a modern day view of the current training and capabilities of this little-known post. It also provides a historical telling of how the post came into being, its ties to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, the Empire State Building, and German POWs.
