“C” is for Camp Croft

“C” is for Camp Croft. This United States Army Training Center, located on 22,000 acres southeast of Spartanburg, was established in December 1940 and named for Major General Edward Croft, a Greenville native. The camp was one of several training centers established across the country as the United States began rebuilding its armed forces prior to Pearl Harbor. At its peak the facility trained an estimated twenty thousand recruits every three months. Many people were forced to leave their homes and farms to make way for the new installation. Camp Croft provided a much needed boost to the local economy, injecting new jobs and higher wages for people across the social strata. In July 1945 Camp Croft was deactivated and the land was turned over for various civilian purposes.