Fort Hood Communities
Gatesville, Coryell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On January 15, 1942, the U.S. Army established a tank destroyer tactical and firing center near Killeen covering more than 100 square miles. Camp Hood (later Fort Hood) would be used to train fifty battalions of about 1,000 men each for World War II combat. Because of the size of the facility, the army needed to acquire more than 88,000 acres of land. About twenty small communities in Coryell County were taken by the government for the establishment of the facility, later named Fort Hood. Many communities were established in the early 1850s before the county was created. During the time of the property acquisitions there was much confusion among the citizens of Coryell County. Families who had lived on the same land for generations watched as homes and churches were lost and beloved dead were reburied in other cemeteries. Financial difficulties arose because of the chaos that followed. The changes happened in a matter of days and weeks because of the urgent need for military training and response. It was a long and hard recovery for those uprooted. In an article in the Gatesville Messenger on February 27, 1942, the author speaks about committee representatives of the camp site area appealing to elected officials about the land prices. The people affected by Fort Hood did not oppose the government using their land for its purpose, but they did expect to be paid reasonable prices so that they might purchase similar homes in other places. Because of the common hardships, community members banded together and became a closer group. Today, even though they are more scattered geographically, these families and their descendants maintain connections through communication, reunions and the traditions of generations past. (2012)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On January 15, 1942, the U.S. Army established a tank destroyer training center near Killeen that became Camp Hood, later Fort Hood. To train tens of thousands of soldiers for World War II combat, the government acquired more than 88,000 acres, taking in about twenty small Coryell County communities settled since the 1850s. Within days and weeks families watched homes and churches vanish and moved beloved dead to new cemeteries, enduring a hard recovery even as they banded together into a lasting community of memory.
Why it matters
It records the human cost of wartime mobilization on the home front, where the demands of national defense uprooted generations-old rural communities almost overnight.
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Related events
- · World War II
- · establishment of Camp Hood / Fort Hood
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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