Camp Adair Corvallis, Oregon, 1941

The Story of Camp Adair, Oregon

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John H. Gallagher Sr., Corvallis, Oregon

John H. Gallagher, Sr., pictured as an Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) student.

U.S. War Department Chooses A Site

In early 1941, when the War Department decided to build new training bases, experts looked around the country for places with 50,000 acres of land, a good water supply, adequate electrical power, and a railroad. The government considered several Willamette Valley sites in Oregon.

The final choice for the camp location came down to Eugene or Corvallis. John H. Gallagher, Sr., an Oregon State University graduate and engineer, went to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the Corvallis location.

The Army chose the Corvallis site in September 1941.

Soldiers from Camp Adair in front of the Marys Peak fire lookout tower.

Soldiers on Marys Peak, west of Philomath, in the Coast Range.

Region Like Germany

At the Camp Adair site, there was level land for barracks and hilly terrain for combat training.

The climate and natural land features of the Willamette Valley were like Germany where soldiers would go to fight.

Full-scale models of European and Japanese towns were constructed for soldiers' training.