Fort Wolters

Subject: Fort Wolters Wed 13 Jun 2007, 8:11 pm

I know that much is available on the Web concerning the history of Fort Wolters (earlier, Camp Wolters), which was located in Parker and Palo Pinto Counties. I hadn't realized until recently, though, how important this post was to the vibrancy of Mineral Wells as a town, after its 'healing waters' industry began to fade away.

The Chapel at Fort Wolters is still standing and in a seemingly good state of repair, judging from photos taken during the past few years. Would this chapel most likely have been constructed when the Camp was first established ... during the mid- to late-1920s? Evidently, the Chapel was recently serving the Trinity Baptist Chruch.

We may take a drive out to the area of old Fort Wolters during the next few weekends, and would like to have a look at the remaining structures. Does anyone know whether the stone guard houses -- and/or other stone structures -- are still standing?

Following are some links to recent and long-ago photos of this post:

http://www.texasmilitaryforcesmuseum.org/1940/wolters.htm

http://www.pbase.com/keith1959/fort_wolters

Thanks very much,

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Chapel, Camp Wolters Tue 03 Jul 2007, 2:33 pm

Below is the link to a postcard view of the Chapel at Camp Wolters:

http://i19.servimg.com/u/f19/11/26/71/51/the_ch10.jpg
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

Well, Fort Wolters (no longer a military installation, of course) was Camp Wolters to begin with, and only became a fort (indicating an installation expected to be permanently manned as part of the military establishment) during the Vietnam War, when it was a facility used for primary helicopter flight training. Many thousands of Warrant Officer Candidates learned to fly swing-wings birds there. And after the Vietnam conflict wound down, the installation was first reduced in size and function, then closed as an active facility and finally closed permanently and removed from Federal ownership.

Subject: Re: Fort Wolters Tue 03 Jul 2007, 6:50 pm

Thanks, Clyde.

I am interested in military 'family' history, and would like to learn more of those whose lives were connected, for a time, to this post.

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

A LOT of folks cycled through Fort (or Camp) Wolters over the years. Chief of Military History should be able to provide a certain amount of information, possibly even including some personnel data.

Subject: Re: Fort Wolters Thu 05 Jul 2007, 12:19 am

Thanks, Clyde.

There are a couple of projects which I have been thinking about taking up. As I'm unable to travel very much right now, any focus for me would have to be local or amenable to distance research.

Perhaps a history of the experiences of (at least some) families who were stationed at Fort. Camp Wolters already has been written or begun. Will try to find out, as I would like to learn more about this post, its people, and also its connections to Mineral Wells.

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: Re: Fort Wolters Thu 05 Jul 2007, 1:32 am

Clyde ... I happened to see a postcard up for bid tonight on ebay which pictures the chapel at Camp Atterbury, in Indiana. This chapel looks to be (or have been ... the card appears that it might date to around 1950) very similar to the one constructed at Camp Wolters. Were most chapels on army posts built to this design during the 1920s - 1950s?

Thanks,

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

Most military posts, by the 20th Century anyway, had almost all buildings to standard patterns. Blueprints from the Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir distributed to all contractors who wanted to get a job with instructions of the "Here, this is what you are to build. What is your bid?" variety.

We had a VERY large program in WWI for the big build-up then, with many buildings surviving long after the intended "temporary use" period was passed into the days of yore. And repeated the pattern in WWII when a small army aburbtly had to become a large one. MAny of the troops were housed, fed and adminsitered from surviving WWI structures and others in new, standard design temporary buildings.

When I went on active duty in 1966, the BOQ and most of the shop and classroom buildings I was in at Aberdeen were of WWII "temporary" construction. When I went back to APG for the Ordnance Officer's Advanced Course during summer active duty while I was in law school, we (the officers in that program) occupied WWII "temporary" barracks that had (still) been in use for enlisted trainees when I was at Aberdeen nearly a decade earlier.

Many of the buildings at Fort Knox, when I got there in 1969 after a Vietnam tour, were also the WWII temporaries, especially in the Training Brigade. There were some administrative buildings of WWI vintage, in fact.

At Fort Hood, when I was getting my physical for recall to active duty and branch transfer to JAG (sometime in 1973), the old WWII hospital was still in use (or part of it was, for things like running large numbers of people though things). And when I got to Fort Hood in 1974, that complex was still in use, though mostly converted to administrative functions (AG) or not in use at all. The 1st Cav Div SJA was in a two story wooden former barracks when I joined the division, but we moved after about a year to the old hospital. III Corps SJA was (along with some other III Corps functions, such as the post CID) in a group of old barracks that had been converted from living quarters for troops to administrative (office) functions. All of those were around 30 years old at that time, and are all gone now, I'm told.

And all of those buildings - at Aberdeen, Fort Knox, or Fort Hood (or Fort Wolters) were to standard designs. Permanent buildings from c.1920 at the latest were also to standard designs, just made of different (usually) materials and to less stark and austere architectural standards. So - I'd be quite surprised if Wolters chapel wasn't to a design seen elsewhere. Including Atterbury, which probably got its about the time Wolters got the one you speak of there.

Subject: Re: Fort Wolters Fri 06 Jul 2007, 6:57 pm

Clyde ... thanks so much for this information.

You know ... Dad also was stationed at Fort Knox during the 1969/1970 time frame. He was at Fort Hood about 1972-'73 (Third Armored Division ... 'Hell On Wheels'?). The reason that I'm not too clear on the dates is because my parents divorced when I was just a babe and both soon remarried. I visited Dad, my step-mother and two brothers in the summers, while living with Mom, my stepfather, sister and other two brothers during the rest of the year. Sadly, my step-mother passed away in 1992. Mom then was available, so, those two -- Mom & Dad -- remarried after thirty years spent apart Smile

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Subject: 2nd Armored Division Sat 07 Jul 2007, 1:53 am

Sorry Clyde ... I was mistaken. Dad belonged to the 2nd Armored Division.

http://www.2ndarmoredhellonwheels.com/
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

2nd Armored Div was Hell on Wheels (and is now the 4th Infantry Div, and at Fort hood). 3rrd Armored Div used to be in GErmany (may still be, ought to check). It was known as "Breakthrough" IIRC, or maybe "Spearhead". Just picked up a book by an Ordnance Officer involved in the recovery of knocked-out and/or broken down 3rd Armored Div tanks from Normandy to the end of the War. Interesting account.

I was lucky and my Ordnance career didn't involve near as much excitement as the author's. Book is called DEATH TRAPS, and he was NOT fond of the M-4 Sherman. I guess picking up hundreds of them with teh (remains) of the crews still inside might leave you feeling taht way...

If your Dad was a Fort Knox 1969/70 could be we met, though also likely we didn't, given that there were a pretty substantial number of people at Fort "Knocked" just then.

Subject: Re: Fort Wolters Mon 09 Jul 2007, 6:53 pm

Clyde ... thanks so much.

Dad assured me that his was the Second Armored Division; he would have to fill you in further beyond that. Perhaps you all did not meet, but you probably have close memories of the same placed at near times.

By the way, I saw a postcard of another military chapel in Texas (can't remember which one at the moment) and it was twin-sister to the ones built at Camp Wolters and at the Indiana post. The simplicity of those chapels appeals to me.

Did you see the recent photograph through a link here of the former Fort-Wolters chapel? It was serving as a Baptist church and appeared quite well-kept.

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves

Trailblazer Joined : 29 May 2007 Posts : 88

Yes, did. Pretty standard military chapel for an Army Post in the years before WWII, it looked like to me. Reminded me of the one a friend was married in (me as best man, Terry and I both in Dress Blues) at Fort Knox, which has (or had) at least a couple.

Joined : 10 Jul 2007 Posts : 4

Cedar, my dad was stationed at Fort Wolters when I was a sophomore and junior in high school. Being an army brat, I had the distinction of going to 3 high schools so MWHS is special to me as it was where I spent half my high school years. If you want info on what it was like living in Wolters Village, let me know.

Subject: Re: Fort Wolters Tue 10 Jul 2007, 3:03 pm

Thank you very much, Sparky. I appreciate your offer and would love to learn of your experiences there.

We live relatively close to this former post, and hope to travel out that way before long.

Sincerely,

Holly
_________________
The woman of the frontier made the best of her situation, for she had developed a respect for the land that gave her freedom as well as the courage to live in it.
~~~ from the perspective of Anne Seagraves