Wednesday, April 23, 2025
(This article is part one of four to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the closing of the Camp and the 10th anniversary of the opening of the POW Camp Concordia Museum.) Part 1 concentrates on the construction of POW Camp Concordia in 1943. Learn more about WWII POW Camp Concordia at Victory Day on May 3 from 10-3. The free event features tours, WWII re-enactors demonstrations and presentations.
The Corps of Engineers established three criteria for site selection of Prisoner of War Camps: the property should have no structures to be removed, the site will be located on an all-weather road with nearby access to rail service as POWs would be delivered via train. Site scouts arrived unannounced in Cloud County during the Fall of 1942 and determined Section 15, Sibley Township, along U.S. Highway 81 met the site requirements. Section 15 was owned by four farmers who agreed to sell their property at fair market price so eminent domain was not required. The farmers also received the first right of refusal to repurchase their property after the war and two of the four owners exercised that option. The city of Concordia was notified on January 1, 1943, that Camp Concordia would be built at the site two miles north & one mile east of Concordia.
While some Concordians expressed concern about German enemies in Cloud County, others thought it would be an economic boost to the area. The Camp doubled the population of the area and it happened fast. Food production cannot be doubled in six months so the military must have shipped most food by rail. The local creamery provided perishables like milk, eggs, cream and ice cream. The concrete provider must have had the best year ever to pour 308 building foundations! Since most of the labor force in Cloud County had been drafted or enlisted into the military, Union labor from urban areas arrived for the construction on February 1, 1943. Approximately 1200 Union members built water, sewer, telephone and electric lines, and roads and fences on the former wheat fields before construction of the 308 buildings commenced. Construction was completed in ninety days and the camp was transferred to the military on May 1, 1943.
Today, POW Camp Concordia is unique because of five original buildings on four original foundations: The T106 Stone Guard tower along former U.S. Highway 81, now Union Road, T9 Warehouse, the water tower base, T74 Officers’ Quarters (privately owned) and T64 Sentry building. When the Camp was dismantled at the War’s end, T64 was moved to a feedlot in Scandia, Kansas, where it was used in the same manner as it was used at the Camp. Trucks entering would provide identification & Bills of Lading to the guard inside and check out at departure from the Camp. When the Museum was opened, the feedlot donated T64 back to Camp Concordia so it was placed on a new foundation. Originally, there were five food warehouses but only T9 remains, on its original 7700 sq. ft. foundation. Fifteen-thousand meals were fed daily at POW Camp Concordia!
Victory Day at POW Camp Concordia is Saturday, May 3 from 10-3. This year marks 80 years of the closing of the camp and ten years since the POW Camp Concordia Museum opened. Watch for the rest of the POW Camp story in the next three issues of The Blade-Empire.
