Site of World War II Camp Bowie
Brownwood, Brown County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Huge World War II training base, Camp Bowie was a home of the "Texas" 36th Division and trained many other units, including the "Dixie" 31st, 4th, and 13th Armored; and 113th Cavalry. It was also Seventh Headquarters of Special Troops, Fourth Army. Here, too, Gen. Walter Krueger was Commander of the VIII Corps Area Troops. The camp had a capacity of 45,000. Commanders were Col. K.L. Berry, Gen. C.V. Birkhead, Col. F.E. Bonney, Col. A.G. Brown, and Col. K.F. Hanst. Camp operated Sept. 1940 to 1946, when 45th Div. was deactivated. It was named for James Bowie, hero of the Alamo siege, 1836. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
During World War II, Camp Bowie near Brownwood was a sprawling training base capable of holding 45,000 soldiers and home to the Texas 36th Division along with armored, cavalry, and headquarters units. Operating from 1940 to 1946, it helped prepare countless troops for the fighting overseas. The camp took its name from Alamo hero James Bowie.
Why it matters
Camps like Bowie turned small Texas towns into engines of the wartime mobilization that fielded the American armies of World War II.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Walter Krueger
- · James Bowie
Related events
- · World War II
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Prisoners of War at Camp Bowie
Brownwood, TX
During World War II, Camp Bowie near Brownwood held several thousand German prisoners of war, the first arriving in 1943 including men from Rommel's Afrika Korps. The Army let them write letters, attend morning classes in subjects from English to bookkeeping, and hear lectures and music at night, while many worked on nearby farms. Some kept up friendships with local farmers and returned to visit years after the last prisoners went home in 1946.
City of Brownwood
Brownwood, TX
Settled in 1857 and given a post office the next year, Brownwood grew from a frontier townsite donated by Greenleaf Fisk into a Central Texas hub for cotton, farming, and trade. The Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1885 and the Frisco in 1890, and by 1889 two colleges — Daniel Baker and Howard Payne — called it home. During World War II the huge Camp Bowie military post operated here from 1940 to 1946.
Rural Communities of Western Mills County
Ridge, TX
Drawn by rich soil and reliable water, pioneers settled western Mills County in the 1870s and 1880s, founding the communities of Regency, Ebony, and Ridge, each with churches, schools, and a post office. During World War II the U.S. government bought regional land to create Camp Bowie, and many residents who left never returned. Today only faint traces of these once-thriving towns remain.
Adams-Shaw House
Brownwood, TX
Around 1876, rancher and former Texas Ranger George H. Adams—who had his cattle brand carved into the front step—built this sandstone house from local Willis Creek stone, laid up by English-born mason William Frederick Morton. The Shaw family bought it in 1908, and their descendants restored and enlarged it after 1945.