Camp Croft

Front: Camp Croft, constructed in 1940-41, was named for Greenville native Maj. Gen. Edward Croft (1875-1938). The pillars from the main gate stand nearby. Camp Croft was one of nine U.S. Army Infantry Replacement Training Centers during World War II. More than 250,000 soldiers took basic and specialty training courses here. Camp Croft contained more than 600 buildings, almost half of them barracks, on a 19,000-acre site between S.C. Hwys. 56 and 176. Reverse: Units at Camp Croft were designated as the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Infantry Training Regiments. The camp also housed as many as 900 German prisoners of war between 1944 and 1946, who were hired out to work on local farms and forests. Camp Croft was deactivated and sold to the Spartanburg County Foundation in April 1947. 7000 acres of it became Croft State Park (now Croft State Natural Area), while the rest was developed for industries and homes.