Historian

Orangeburg Library

On the evening of 25 Sep 42, over 300 Orangeburg residents met at the Orangeburg School (now the city library) to learn that their homes, lots, and farms (amounting to approximately 2,040 acres west of the museum) were being seized for the immediate construction of a military camp. One hundred thirty families lost their homes.

Picture by Amy Habif and Daniel Cazes

This is a picture of the Orangeburg library today. It sits on the same grounds as Camp Shanks.

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Camp Shanks

Camp Shanks officially opened 4 Jan 45 under the command of Colonel Kenna G. Eastman. The barracks in which the transient soldiers lived measured 20' x 100', and consisted of two rows of bunks and three coal-burning pot-belly stoves which provided the limited heat. Two WAC detachments, consisting of over 400 women, were assigned to the camp, and filled positions ranging from clerk to mechanic to warehouse staff to armorer. Their freedom of movement on the installation was restricted. Camp Shanks comprised one of three staging areas on the eastern seaboard. The other two, Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, NY, and Camp Kilmer, New Brunswick, NJ, when combined with Camp Shanks, made the area the largest staging area in the world. Camp Shanks closed in Jul 46.

Museum picture was found at home.talkcity.com/AcademyDr/usa_103rd_inf_div/campshanks.html Sign picture taken by Amy Habif and Daniel Cazes.

These are pictures are Camp Shanks entrance and museum.

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Piermont Pier

A total of 419,491 persons (equal to 573 trainloads) embarked and disembarked from Piermont Pier during the existence of Camp Shanks. The pier is located at the east end of Paradise Avenue, Piermont, NY. An outstanding example of reuse, this mile-long dock that once was the eastern terminus of the Erie Railroad is now a tree-lined public walkway jutting out into the Hudson River. The concrete pier is still used by local fishermen. It is open year-round during daylight hours. (1-800-295-5723)

A bronze commemorative plaque is mounted on a large stone at the entrance to the pier with an inscription which reads:

In Memory of
Those Who Never Returned
May God Be with All of Them

Picture by Amy Habif and Daniel Cazes

This is the Piermont Pier.

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Orangetown Police Department

The Orangetown Police Department was established in 1935 and its first Police Chief was Fred Kennedy. Before 1935, the protection of the town was in the hands of Constables who were paid by the individual businesses in the town to protect their properties. From 1935 to 1961 it was headquartered above the Post Office in the Hamlet of Sparkill. It grew from a handful to 26 officers by 1960. In April of 1961, due to its having outgrown the small quarters above the Post Office, it moved to a newly erected and more centrally located 2 story Town Hall on the corner of Orangeburg Road and Dutch Hill Road in the Hamlet of Orangeburg. (map) The Police department occupied 1/2 of the basement floor, and consisted of 29 sworn officers and 1 civilian clerk. Over the next 30 years, the force grew and waned between 90 and 100 officers and we subsequently took over most of the whole basement (except for the boiler room and Town Attorney's Office).

The police car picture was found at www.orangetownpd.com/history.htm Other pictures by Amy Habif and Daniel Cazes.

The middle picture is the current Sparkill Post Office. The third picture is of the Town Hall in Orangeburg.

Click on the picture of the police car for more information!

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