![]() A bus service provided transportation within the camp, at a cost of five cents. East-west streets were lettered alphabetically north-south routes were numbered. The streets inside the main post were paved. Gravel sidewalks linked the buildings, with the exception of the hospital which had a wooden sidewalk and covered walkway. Other buildings in the complex had concrete bases. ![]() The barracks were painted white with green trim, and built off the ground. The vast parade ground was nearly two miles in length, and lined by barracks on one side. At one time, the 88th division post office ranked fourth in the state for volume of business. The camp had a central post office with three branches. Included in the mass of buildings were a 1600-bed hospital, 479 barracks, 19 post exchanges,12 chapels, and various social and recreation centers. When construction was completed in late May of 1942, the main post occupied 260 acres with 2,250 buildings. It took four months to build the camp, at a project cost of thirty million dollars. The production pace in the first month was so hectic that a building was completed every twenty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Manhattan Construction Company of Muskogee was awarded the building contract, and a work force of 12,000 men began construction in February 1942. Gruber, composer of "The Caisson Song." The camp was located on Highway 10, eighteen miles east of Muskogee, Oklahoma. The complex would be named Camp Gruber in honor of the late Brigadier General Edmund L. Northeastern Oklahoma felt the impact firsthand on January 8, 1942, when the Muskogee Phoenix confirmed a report naming the Cookson Hills as the site for a planned military cantonment. AMERICA'S entry into World War II brought many changes to the home front.
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