World War I Camp Upton, with a capacity of 18,000 troops, was one of three transient embarkation camps directly under the control of the
New York Port of Embarkation during World War I. The camp was named after
Emory Upton, a
Union general of the
Civil War. The camp was created in 1917 to house troops as they awaited ships for deployment overseas. From Camp Mills, the units traveled by trains of the
Long Island Rail Road to board ferryboats for the overseas piers in
Brooklyn or
Hoboken when scheduled for embarkation aboard troop ships. In 1921, the federal government sold the buildings and equipment but kept the land. In 1925, the site was designated as
Upton National Forest, but was rescinded in 1927. Many of the structures from the camp were transported to form the first large-scale settlement at
Cherry Grove, New York, on
Fire Island.
World War II Camp Upton was used as an Army induction center in the
mobilization of 1940 that preceded the American entry into
World War II. Later, it was an internment site for German, Italian, and Japanese nationals who were in New York City or on merchant vessels at the time war broke out. On March 16, 1943, the internees were transferred to
Fort George G. Meade in Maryland. In September 1944, Camp Upton became a convalescent and rehabilitation hospital.
Brookhaven National Laboratory In 1946, after the camp was closed, the federal government chose the site to build a nuclear research facility that would retain America's preeminence in that field. The former Camp Upton was renamed
Brookhaven National Laboratory and was operated by
AUI, a consortium of universities, for the
United States Atomic Energy Commission. ==In popular culture==