Site of Harmon General Hospital
Longview, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established here by the United States Army in 1942, Harmon General Hospital was named for Colonel Daniel W. Harmon (1880-1940), a medical officer in the regular Army. 220 buildings were rapidly constructed on the 156-acre site, and the hospital was activated on Nov. 24, 1942, with Colonel G. V. Emerson as the first commanding officer. Harmon General had facilities for surgery, physical therapy, laboratory analysis, dental care, and medical treatment. Associated with the hospital were a post exchange, chapel, library, post office, bank, theater, gymnasium, laundry, mess halls, barracks, and living quarters for the nurses and physicians -- all combined to make the facility a self-reliant community. Major M. K. Moulding succeeded Colonel Emerson as commanding officer. 200 inmates of the prisoner of war camp at Fannin were assigned in May 1945 to work at the hospital. The facility closed when the last of the 25,000 wartime patients left in Dec. 1945. The hospital attracted wide community support. The Garden Study Club of Longview landscaped much of the grounds. Their projects included an "allee or crepe myrtle" planted along the original main entrance. LeTourneau College now (1976) occupies the site.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When the U.S. Army needed hospital beds for a nation at war, it threw up 220 buildings on 156 acres here and activated Harmon General Hospital in November 1942, naming it for career medical officer Colonel Daniel W. Harmon. Nearly a self-contained town, it had a chapel, theater, bank, and post office, and by 1945 was drawing on German prisoners of war held at nearby Camp Fannin for labor. It closed in December 1945 after treating some 25,000 wartime patients; LeTourneau College now occupies the grounds.
Why it matters
Harmon General shows how World War II transformed the home front, turning a Texas town into a vast military medical community almost overnight.
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Related people
- · Daniel W. Harmon
- · G. V. Emerson
Related events
- · World War II
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Robert Gilmour LeTourneau
Longview, TX
A largely self-educated native of Vermont, Robert G. LeTourneau built his first plant in 1921 and went on to invent components that became standard in construction equipment worldwide. During World War II his company built roughly seventy percent of the earthmoving machinery used by U.S. forces, and afterward he moved to Longview, opened a plant, and founded the technical institute that became LeTourneau University. He poured much of his fortune into a worldwide Christian missionary foundation and became one of Longview's most influential civic leaders.
Harmon General Hospital Chapel
Longview, TX
Harmon General Hospital, authorized by the U.S. Army in 1942 and named for Col. Daniel Warrick Harmon, treated servicemen in Longview from late 1942 until the end of 1945. This ecumenical chapel, opened in January 1943, served Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish personnel alike. After the war the property became a college campus, and the well-preserved little chapel was renovated and formally named Speer Chapel.
Big Inch Pipeline
Longview, TX
When German U-boats began sinking American oil tankers off the East Coast in early 1942, the nation's fuel lifeline was suddenly in peril—most East Coast crude came by sea from Texas fields. In response the government built the Big Inch, a twenty-four-inch pipeline running 1,476 miles from Longview to Illinois and on to eastern refineries, the largest ever attempted. At its wartime peak it moved over 300,000 barrels a day, keeping oil flowing safely to the Allied war effort.
David Sutton Meredith, Jr.
Longview, TX
Born in Longview in 1902, David Sutton Meredith, Jr. graduated from the University of Texas and returned home to practice law, winning election as Gregg County judge the same year, 1926. As a special district judge in the 1930s he prosecuted "hot oil" violators who illegally overproduced from the East Texas field. He volunteered for military service in World War II and served again in the early 1950s before rising to Texas Assistant Attorney General.