Welcome to Camp Zachary Taylor. The mission of our Historical Society is to preserve, conserve, collect and make available information, photographs and artifacts directly related to the World War Training camp that was built in Louisville Ky in 1917, Camp Zachary Taylor. The construction of the facility was one of the single most important events that took place in Louisville in the 20th century, nearly increasing the population of Louisville 25% in three months. The economic, social and political impact of this one event has never been matched by any other in the city’s history, and probably never will again.
The neighborhood that is now known as Camp Taylor only takes in a small portion of what was the largest WW1 army training camp built in North America at the beginning of the United States entry into the war. The camp which covered over 3000 acres would not be recognizable today, having been dismantled in 1921, it is now occupied by mostly residential and light commercial buildings.
We hope you enjoy this site, and find it informative. Please help us keep the history alive by supporting us in our efforts.
Kenneth Maguire
Camp Zachary Taylor Historical Society
Louisville, Ky
This site is under construction and new information is being added regularly. Please visit often, and feel free to register for notifications of updates and new acquisitions.
11 responses so far ↓
1 wrightklw // Jul 16, 2008 at 11:11 pm
It’s good to see someone stepping up and making an effort to preserve history.
2 Ken Maguire // Sep 2, 2008 at 9:56 am
Thank you for the encouragement! I am working to make this site as informative as possible, so others can discover the history of Camp Taylor that has almost been forgotten. Please visit us regularly and check out our new “Letters From Home” page.
3 dgnad // Sep 15, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Great site! I am extremely interested in all Louisville history and old Louisville photos. I have amassed quite a large collection of postcards and digital photos. You have an impressive collection of Camp Taylor info. I’ll look through mine to see if I have anything to contribute.
4 Ken Maguire // Sep 17, 2008 at 9:24 am
Dgnad,
I appreciate the positive remarks. I look forward to hearing from you, and about your collection. I very much want to hear about any item you might have that relates to Camp Taylor.
I hope that anyone else who has information about Camp Taylor, or relatives who were trained here, also contact us so we can add their information to our data base. Then this information can be shared with others who are researching Camp Zachary Taylor.
5 DIANA // Oct 2, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I have some post cards of Camp Taylor.They were among letters from WW1, in a shoe box that were at my 85 yr. old cousins house who had died a few yrs. ago. There is one that has a soldier blowing one of those really long horns. There are barracks,and soldiers also, in the pictures. The post cards were sent to my Aunt, his mother back in the early 1900’s. GOD BLESS, DIANA
6 admin // Oct 2, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Diana,
The postcards are fairly common, but if they are from your family, they are valuable to you! It is good to hear that you have letters? I would like to know where your cousin lived and where he was stationed.
The “Big Horn” you mention is a megaphone for a bugle to call reveille to the men. These bugles had to be heard from a long distance away.
I would like to hear more about the letters!
Ken M
7 marg // Jan 25, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I have an original panoramic of the Flag Raising ceremony on Nov. 3rd 1917. My grandfather is in the picture. Royal Photo Co. took the pic and it is marked as “Flag Raising Camp Zachary Taylor November 3rd 1917. Do you have any info on the soldiers that were in this photo?
8 Nancy Hutchens // Feb 1, 2009 at 2:11 am
I have an original document from my maternal great-aunt’s husband. He was stationed at Camp Taylor. Until I googled Camp Taylor I had no idea there was anything left and had never heard of the place. Not sure how I missed all that activity back in the fall since I live near Lexington. Not receiving the Louisville paper probably explains that. I am preparing to mail this document to my cousin as it was his father that was stationed there. Would anyone be interested in a copy of that document. It was a certificate making my great-uncle a Corporal in 1917. Please advise if interested.Thanks for your time. Nancy hutchens
[ To be sure you have my e-mail address and there is no mistake, it is nhutchens@windstream.net]
9 fred // May 30, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Great site! Nice design and type faces. Is it appropriate to ask a question? My uncle, Fred Albert Broshears, was a private in 12th Company, 3rd Training Battalion, 159th Depot Brigade, located, I am led to believe, at Camp Zachary Taylor. He enlisted 26 May 1918 and was discharged 31 December 1918. Can you tell me what his duties were with this Brigade, or was he in what, in my time of service, might be called basic training? Jim Kinnaman
10 admin // May 31, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Fred, welcome to our website! The 159th Depot Brigade was at Camp Taylor, but I would not be able to tell you what his duties would have been. The newly conceived training camps were the precursor to the modern day Basic Training Camp. There were no facilities of this type prior to World War 1. The US Army was very small in 1916. Even at the end of the war, the US had the seventh largest army in the world with 4.3 million men. Russia was the largest with around 12 million and Germany with 11 million. Thanks for you comments. Ken M
11 fred // Jun 2, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Ken: Thanks for your response. I was surprised by the short length – only 7 or 8 months – of my uncle’s service, but then it occurred to me that America entered the war in April 1917, and Fred enlisted (or was drafted?) a month later. Then the war ended in November 1918 and Fred was discharged a month later. If my uncle was in service from nearly the beginning until the finish of the war, and saw no overseas action, how did any of our troops get prepared to fight in Europe, as many of them obviously did? Jim K
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